I read an article on the New York Times Web site. The article was about the growing competition among college students in the medical fields of dermatology and plastic surgery.
I noticed that the article used the “little person, big picture” approach. The article featured two Harvard Medical School seniors aspiring to be dermatologists.
The article had a photo of the Harvard Medical School couple and their daughters. The article also had various links to other related articles, and offered a lot of statistics and facts about the rates of acceptance of college students into their desired residency programs.
The article itself was based on a specialty Vogue series called, ‘The Price of Beauty.’ The on-line article feature an 8-minute video clip called, “For medical students, skin is in.” The clip featured the girl in the photo, Meena Singh, and was more of a feature story that went along with the article. Meena is taking the approach toward dermatology for colored skin.
Although the content of the video was interesting, the narrator was monotonous. It sounded like the narrator was reading a script for the first time.
I thought the article was interesting because I have a friend who is currently trying to go into the dermatology field. I didn’t realize that dermatology and plastic surgery held so much competition, but in today’s society, I guess that makes sense.
4 years ago
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The most difficult part of the EHS article was capturing the essence of the article in a photograph. After the interviews at Chili’s, I wasn’t sure it could be done. It turned out to be possible, but it wasn’t easy.
I thought I found the perfect opportunity after my third interview with the assistant kitchen manager of Outback Steakhouse. In one of his interview responses he mentioned that he had to be to work before everyone else. To me, this meant the perfect time for a private photo-shoot. The outcome was bittersweet.
I arrived at Outback at approximately 9 a.m., when the AKM said he would be unloading a supply truck. He was there, and he was unloading the supply truck, but it wasn’t what I had expected.
Firstly, it was raining outside, so I decided to take the photographs inside. Unfortunately for me, the doorway wasn’t big enough to accommodate me, my camera and the AKM with his 50-pound boxes of meat.
I thought I was saved when I followed the AKM into the walk-in freezer. There was plenty of room for me to stand aside and take photographs, and I seized the opportunity.
After approximately 15 minutes of intense photography, the AKM had only unloaded a small portion of the load. I figured that I had gotten all of the photographs that I could, and I called it a day.
I captured the moment, and hopefully it will capture the audience.
4 years ago
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Initially I thought that my first interview with the anonymous Chili’s server was a complete waste of my time. Looking back, I realize that it was time well wasted.
After reviewing my notes, I realized that there was another story hidden beneath the one I was writing. Although it is not necessarily an Environmental/Health/Science article, it might be one worth writing simply for getting published.
The first server I interviewed immediately began by telling me about how stressful his job was because of the rude customers he had to deal with. One of the quotes I wrote down was, “I’m here to serve people, but I’m not their servant.”
After reading over his interview, I turned to the notes I had on Meagan’s interview, specifically the material that I didn’t use in my EHS article. I noticed similar complaints from Meagan about people being rude and how frustrated she felt with these customers.
In the future, I think that this might make a good topic for a feature story.
4 years ago
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The second interview I conducted was with Meagan Grachek, another server at Chili’s Grill & Bar. Her interview responses were good, but getting the interview done was a little hectic.
Meagan brought me over to corner in the back of the restaurant near a kitchen entrance where we wouldn’t be in anyone’s way. Even though we weren’t in anyone’s way, we were still noticeable, and a number of servers stopped to ask us what we were doing throughout the entire interview.
On top of having to answer the questions of curious servers, Meagan had to keep an eye on her table. When I got to my third question, a server approached Meagan and told her that her customers were asking for her. She excused herself and came back a few minutes later.
When we reached the fifth question, she excused herself to check on her table’s drinks. When we reached the eighth question, she excused herself to bring her table their check.
When we finally reached the last question, a server approached her to tell her that she had been seated again. I waited for approximately five minutes while Meagan greeted her table and got their drinks, and then she came back and finished the interview.
The interview questions themselves only took 10 minutes to answer, but the experience lasted for more than half an hour.
4 years ago
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The first interview I conducted was at Chili’s Grill & Bar. I purposely went at approximately 3 o’clock because I also work in a restaurant, and I knew that it wouldn’t be very busy.
When I arrived, the first person to greet me was a server. I asked the server if he might have time for a 10 minute interview, and he agreed. I briefly explained to him that my article was about college students working stressful jobs that caused physical pain.
Immediately, he began to tell me about how stressful his job was. I didn’t want to interrupt him, and some of the material was relevant so I began taking notes.
After approximately five minutes, I politely interrupted him and asked what expenses he was responsible for paying. I had assumed that he was working because he had to pay his own bills.
To my disappointment, the server told me that he only worked one to two shifts per week, and he used the money for going out because his other expenses were covered by his parents.
Too bad my article dealt with students working for a living.
I politely thanked him for his time and excused myself.
4 years ago
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