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The next step. After learning that Ohio University was not the place for me, I have done a lot of thinking about what is for me, and what it is I am really looking for in a school. What is important for me to have? What should I be looking for? What should I avoid? My college choices lately have been between two schools: The University of California - Davis, and San Jose State University. Both are very different schools, and offer different programs, environments, and experiences. The choice between the two has been very tough. But thanks to some guidance from many people, including several members of YITL, I have made a decision that I feel very good about. San Jose State University has one of the best photojournalism programs in the country. I have made the two-hour drive several times in the past few months to listen to speakers and am continually impressed by the work they put as as well as the students in the program and their faculty advisor, James McNay. I love the family atmosphere in the program there, and everyone seems to look out for everyone else. I have been assisted a lot by several students there, who have taken the time to give me feedback about my portfolio and just to talk with. Unfortunately, that atmosphere isn’t a microcosm of the school. The University is very much a commuter school, and doesn’t seem to have a lot of school pride or spirit, something I value a lot. With just 1/10 of the school living on campus, the place is a ghost town on the weekends. I would be living in the dorms, of course. The school is not very selective, anyone who put forth an effort in high school can get in there. The State University system is the step-sister to the University of CA system, which gets more funding and is much more selective in admissions.
They do not have a journalism department but their student newspaper is a 30,000 circulation daily, which is 100% run by the students. According do a student photojournalist studying history there, they have media lab with Nikon and Kodak film scanners, Mac G3s, and a film writer that is free to students. Davis is a college town where people have an interest in the school and its functions, and has the “University feel” with many students living on campus and the rest living very close in surrounding apartments. The community I live in is very important to me, and I like taking pride in that community with everyone else. Davis offers me this experience. Davis is the better school, with students who hold higher scores and grades from high school. San Jose offers the photojournalism program, with photojournalism students who I really like. I don’t want college to be about photography. I want an experience with something more, an education that opens me up to the world. In five years, photojournalism could have changed dramatically from where it is now. Many believe it is. For this reason, I feel that en education that educates me how to think and understand things can serve me better than one that teaches me how to make great pictures. Photojournalism is really about life anyway, not photography. I will start as a freshman at the University of California at Davis in the Spring Quarter in March. I am very excited, and I feel in my heart that this was the best choice. I don’t think that San Jose would have been a bad choice, but I think this one will serve me better in the future. You never know where things will lead, and its best to be prepared for them. At Davis, I plan to work on the student newspaper, hopefully making it to photo editor before I graduate. I also plan to continue freelancing, though not nearly as much as I have been doing lately. My #1 focus needs to be on school. I certainly hope that this doesn’t tarnish my friendship with the students at San Jose, I have a great amount of respect for you guys and will be seeing you at the various NPPA nights you sponsor. A HUGE thank you to everyone who has helped me out lately in this next step, especially Donald Winslow, Randy Pench, Susan Markisz, Kevin Sullivan, and Max Whittaker. HAPPY NEW YEAR! January 4, 1999 |
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Joseph
Jaszewski
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Contributor
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Behind
the Viewfinder - A Year in the Life of Photojournalism |
The
University of California at Davis is part of the University of California
system previously mentioned. They have a very good reputation, and are
much more selective with their student body. When I appealed admission
for the Spring Quarter there, I didn’t expect to get in and fully expected
to go to San Jose. But after I did, I started to seriously consider Davis
as an option. It offers a program called American Studies, which is basically
the study of American history, culture, and literature. There is a specialization
in that major that allows to you specialize in mass-media in America.
That program caught my eye and would allow me to get a much broader, liberal
arts education and still be able to get some education in media. 