I know I’m not alone in that every time I have ample time to complete an assignment, I will do everything else besides it up until the very last minute. Procrastination is something that we all deal with, and most of my classmates would agree we are afflicted with the illusion that we all work better under pressure.
Possibly for a creative assignment or something that is free-form, writing can be put off until the last possible moment and can be made pretty decently. Yet, when it comes to chasing down sources, acquiring interviews and doing proper research in order to write an article for a newspaper or magazine, the tactic of procrastination is not the best one to take.
So, here I am, two days before deadline with most of my information just sitting in a Word document. I have chipped away at it, bit by bit, as the construction of these things are slowly coming together. And trust me, this is not in-depth investigative reporting I’m doing nor should it really require this much time and energy. However, since I’m still really new at this, I take my time.
I remember when I first began photography as a hobby, it wasn’t that long ago. I would spend hours dissecting each photograph, editing and post-processing EACH image (of which there were often hundreds of), and use every tool in the software that I knew how to use. It was so fun, and sometimes frustrating, to go through this process. I knew WHAT I wanted to do, I just wasn’t equipped yet with HOW to do it. And I’m still in more of the learning phase than master phase, but the most significant difference is a photo like the one above I took of John Statz for Pueblo Pulp takes me 1/16th the amount of time.
So, as a writer and reporter, this is still really new for me. My interviews I have learned to keep on track and brief for the simple fact that I don’t want to transcribe 45 minutes of audio like I had to after the first couple that I did. I’m also learning that I know WHAT I want to say, I know what message I’m getting across to my audience, but I am learning HOW are the best ways to convey that message. I ask myself endlessly “Is there a different word I could use in order to really hammer my point across?” Or I wonder “Can I take the reader on a journey in their imagination so they can visualize the location that I got to see of the person I spoke with?”
I love the fact that I’m in school and I’m discovering classes that will directly impact me and bring me closer to the result I want to achieve, but I’m really disappointed with the educational system as a whole. If only we could all piece together a bit of this and a bit of that, build up our weaknesses and capitalize on our interests. Through my internship I have learned that journalism is 100% the right career field for me, after years and years of searching. I never completed a higher-level degree because I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do and I didn’t want to squander money and time in a generic field of study that may result in nothing in the end.
So, in a way, I procrastinated my education. I put it off until the last moment before I had to suck it up and step up or step out of the way. And I’m not ready to give my future position as a reporter and photojournalist away, so I’m stepping up and doing the damn thing! All while trying to be creative in the time I’m using and the people/places/things I’m learning from.
Well, that’s my rant for the day… Procrastination, Education, and Creativity
-The Photo Intern
The Intern 