College Academic Work
Throughout my college career to receive my degree in communication-journalism with my minor in English, I have taken a plethora of journalism and English courses that allowed me to learn, practice and produce work that showcases my abilities. Here are some of those pieces.
Specialized Reporting
Podcast about Starbucks Employee
Here is a podcast that I created that profiles a Starbucks employee about their work experience. This assignment allowed me to use the Voice Record app and practice with creating a reporter's track to tell a story along with the background noise to place listeners at a specific scene.
Concert Band performance showcases world premiere of student composed piece
Accompanying Story:
Non-traditional student balances being a music education major and parent
College can be a full-time commitment for students, especially when many students work a part-time job, have a social life and participate in extracurriculars around campus. Now, on top of all of that, imagine, instead of coming home after classes un-winding over Netflix and maybe even a nap, you’re coming home to take care of a 7-month-old baby.
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That scenario rings true for 27-year-old non-traditional student Martin Glover, who is a full-time senior music education major at Appalachian State University. He has been married for two years and assists his wife, Sara Glover, in taking care of their baby girl, Lisanna.
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On top of Martin Glover’s normal class schedule, as part of the music program, students are required to participate in additional ensembles on campus. Martin Glover is a member of the Jazz Ensemble II, Wind Ensemble and Saxophone Quartet.
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“Even though our schedules can get pretty hectic, my favorite moments are our down time at home in between his classes and performances, especially when Marty is practicing, or when he goes live on FaceBook to play his saxophone and improv over instrumental tracks for what he calls 'jazz thirty,'" Sara Glover said. “Lisanna adores hearing him play the different saxophones he has at the house, and it’s so sweet seeing the joy or confusion in her eyes as you see her try to process all of the noises he’s making.”
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Throughout the semester, you can find Sara Glover and Lisanna attending Martin’s performances, including the first Jazz Ensemble II performance on Feb. 28. During the second to last song, Glover soloed over an arrangement of “Georgia on my Mind” composed by Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell.
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“It was genuinely one of the most beautiful student solos I’ve heard. The way Marty added his own little falls, scoops and bends into the music was just captivating. I genuinely didn’t want the song to end; it was definitely my favorite,” said Jordan Moore, a saxophone player and attendee of the concert.
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Throughout the jazz ensemble II performance, audience members could see the joy beaming from Martin Glover’s face as he bobbed his head and grooved out to the rest of the ensemble’s parts when he wasn’t soloing.
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“Marty has always been incredibly passionate and eager to learn more and challenge himself during our rehearsal time. He never makes excuses for anything and is very driven to push himself to be the best saxophone player he can be” said Rodney Berry, director of the jazz ensemble II.
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With having a 25-minute commute to campus every day and in addition to scheduling time for practice, Martin Glover said he tries to spend as many moments at home with his wife and daughter as he can.
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Sara Glover has been back from maternity leave since September 2019 and is currently the executive housekeeping manager at the Courtyard Marriott in Boone. During a normal work week, she works weekends and sporadically throughout the week. She said family is everything to them, and they want to make sure they’re both home enough to spend quality time with each other and their daughter.
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“As cheesy as this sounds, I kind of knew immediately when I met Sara that she was a keeper,” said Martin Glover. “I’m just pretty grateful; I'm such a goof, and she’s always supported me and my education and career plans, and I do the same for her.”
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The Glovers plan on staying in Boone, even after Martin graduates. They also plan on expanding their on-growing family. The land that the Glover’s live on is family owned, and they live within minutes of Martin’s cousins and uncle.
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Martin Glover said even though his education has taken a lot of pauses throughout the years, he’s excited he’s finally going to be able to do what he loves, helping and teaching future music students. Martin Glover said he wouldn’t change their situation for the world, and he and his wife said they are immensely grateful to be able to get up and do what they’re passionate about everyday, while making a happy life and household for their daughter to be raised in.
Senior recitals canceled for music majors among COVID-19
Concert halls are sitting empty as the number of COVID-19 cases in North Carolina rises, but for some musicians, performing has not stopped, and it continues online.
As per App State music degree requirements, students hold solo recitals open to the public to show the work they have done throughout their college career.
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“Your senior recital is something you look forward to your entire collegiate career, at least personally speaking,” senior music education major Avery Gray said. “On a performance side of things, you’ve been working toward it for four years to showcase all the hard work you’ve done to improve to become the best musician you possibly can.”
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Students received an email from App State on March 11 stating the extension of spring break until March 23. Beginning March 23, classes transitioned from in-person instruction to alternative course delivery methods.
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Gray’s clarinet recital was scheduled to be March 27 from 6 to 7 p.m. in the Recital Hall of Broyhill Music Center. That date was set in December.
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“I don’t think I actually ever got told officially (that the recital would be canceled),” Gray said. “Once everything started getting moved online, it was just assumed that it would have been canceled.”
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Gray decided to go on Facebook Live March 27 at 6 p.m. to still be able to perform for her family and friends.
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“I decided to go on Facebook Live and play two of my pieces from my recital because I wanted to one, allow my family and friends to hear the progress I have made and two, to hopefully spread a little bit of joy during the pandemic,” Gray said.
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As of April 3, Gray’s video has 194 views and 36 comments giving applause and encouragement.
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“I was really excited for the audience to hear and experience the works I had programmed because they were all so different and really fun,” Gray said.
Senior music performance major Michelle Jaluvka also had her senior recital canceled.
“I totally respect what the university is doing with regards to taking precautions, but having my capstone experience canceled, I’m both really sad because I’ve been looking forward to that day since my first semester freshman year,” Jaluvka said, “and I’m also really scared to graduate now because I feel like I’ll be unprepared since I missed out on that experience.”
Jaluvka said she had the opportunity to give a half recital last year, which is 30 minutes long.
“I am lucky to have that experience playing by myself in front of a large audience, but this year was supposed to be a full hour, which requires a lot of endurance, and I feel like I needed to go through that process to make sure I can get through a performance like that, Jaluvka said. “I was also going to give program notes from the stage for public speaking experience, which I don’t have much of and was looking forward to working on.”
Music performance majors have a requirement to do a half recital junior year and a full recital, which is one hour long, senior year.
The recital requirement is “to ease our way into the whole concept of performing alone in front of people and the endurance and preparation that goes along with it,” Jaluvka said.
Music education majors are only required to do the one full-hour recital senior year. However, students can choose to do the same recital requirements as performance majors and get a certificate.
“(The certificate) basically says that they went above and beyond in their lessons and performances in addition to their own degree obligations,” Jaluvka said.
Jaluvka said she will also choose to go live on Facebook to perform her recital. She is doing her live video on April 18 at 2 p.m., which is the same date and time as when her recital was scheduled.
“On the Facebook event page, it had like 38 (people) going and 46 interested, so it was shaping up to be a pretty well-attended recital, too,” Jaluvka said.
Holding recitals virtually is not a requirement for students. However, students still have to do juries, which is a pre-screening before performances with a panel of professors that listen to the musicians play their instruments over Zoom.
Junior music education major Nathan Hartman said his senior recital is something he “extremely” looks forward to.
Senior recitals are one of the final steps before student teaching for music education majors and one of the final steps before graduation for music performance majors.
“I am looking forward to be able to not only completing such a feat, but I also want to be able to show everyone how far I have come in my musical knowledge and ability,” Hartman said. “I hate that senior recitals were canceled, but I believe it is necessary due to the circumstances in our nation currently. I would be extremely distraught if such a thing happened to me.”
The Hayes School of Music is working on creating an alternative so seniors can still have a recital the following semester; however, specifics have not yet been released.
Luke Combs to reschedule Kidd Brewer Stadium performance until 2021
Country music singer and songwriter and former App State student Luke Combs announced that he’s postponing his stadium show at The Rock from May 2 to May 1, 2021.
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Ticket holders have been waiting for the performance since tickets first went on sale in September 2019.
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In light of everything occurring with COVID-19, it didn’t come to a surprise to some students that the show was postponed.
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“After we got the email about graduation being virtual, I just knew that the next announcement was going to be the show cancellation, and at that point, I didn’t think I could take anymore bad news,” senior Davey Albertson said.
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Albertson said she has been a fan of Luke Combs for years now and has seen him live multiple times already, but this show was different from the others.
Albertson also said she was looking forward to wrapping up the end of her senior year seeing Combs play his first stadium show the week before she graduated.
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“It really was the dream end to my senior year, but I’m just thankful it was rescheduled instead of canceled,” Albertson said. “I still get to go, and it’s still going to be amazing, I just have to wait a little longer.”
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Due to the ongoing threat of the virus, everyday it seems like a new artist is announcing they’re cancelling the rest of their tour or they’re cancelling their upcoming summer shows until further notice.
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“I almost get overwhelmed looking at my calendar now. I get emails daily about a rescheduled date I have to add. So, ultimately, I stopped writing in my planner in pen a month ago. Only pencil now,” said Emily Sheppard, assistant production manager at The Rave.
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It’s a time of uncertainty, and during times like this, individuals are trying to find the positives in every situation. The rescheduled Luke Combs date actually came as a relief to some students.
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For sophomore Calvin Horton, that meant he would actually get to attend the show.
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“I was at work when they were selling the tickets in person, so I had my friend buy two, and I paid her back,” Horton said. “I found out a week after getting my ticket that my brother was getting married the weekend of the concert, and I live in Atlanta, so I was very disappointed when I realized I’d have to sell my ticket.”
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Horton said he was ecstatic after he saw Combs’s Instagram post stating the new show date.
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“The first thing I did was I texted my friend who had bought my ticket originally. I was so excited because this meant putting off selling my ticket was a good thing! It was the best quarantine news yet,” Horton said.
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Combs was positive himself when he posted the announcement on social media by ending his Instagram caption with, “This was going to be a dream come true and still will be one year later. I will see y’all then!”
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Until then, ticket holders can anticipate their show by watching previous live performances on YouTube or joining Combs occasionally on social media when he goes live with his guitar to sing some of his newly written songs and older songs.
Live music may not be happening currently as a result of COVID-19, but that doesn’t mean people aren’t making their own concerts in their homes.
Multi Media Storytelling
Podcast about App State Physics Student Nathanial Scott
Here is a podcast that I created that profiles a physics student about their college experience. This assignment allowed me to use a Tascam audio recorder to practice capturing clear audio that I then had to edit in Adobe Premiere Pro to complete the podcast.
Interview and Sequence Assignment
Here is an interview that I filmed and recorded with a DSLR digital camera, microphone and Tascam recorder. The interview involves interviewee App State journalism student Moss Brennan and his experience with and passion for the journalism field.
Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation provides nature education to the public
Located 5,946 feet above northwest North Carolina, the estimated 300 million-years-old Grandfather Mountain is a scenic travel attraction funded by the Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation, which is an organization focused on preserving the mountain and providing nature education to the public.
“It’s a wonderful place,” said Frank Ruggiero, who is the director of marketing and communications at the Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation. “I’ve been going (to Grandfather Mountain) since I was a child. I remember enjoying the mountains, and everything it had to offer. It’s a fun, fantastic place, with incredible people and incredible animals. It’s really fulfilling working for a cause and not just a person.”
The nonprofit organization offers various types of programming for visitors, including adult, classroom, student outreach and public.
These are the four directions in which the stewardship foundation uses Grandfather Mountain to inspire conservation, said Amy Renfranz, director of education and natural resource management at the Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation.
The adult programming includes after-hour programs, private tours and adult field courses.
“We’re doing what can’t be done in the classroom,” Renfranz said, wearing her hiking boots, binoculars and blond hair high in a pony tail.
The classroom program, also known as Classroom in the Clouds, revolves around on-site events for kindergarten through third grade and fourth through sixth grade.
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“It’s a special experience, because you’re out there learning first hand,” Ruggiero said. “When we’re watching these kids learn and handle rocks and see the animals, you see that little spark of wonder light up in their eyes. That’s just really hard to beat.”
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The student outreach programming entails when Grandfather Mountain employees go to classrooms to teach students. Oftentimes, employees will bring animals, rocks, plants, depending on the school’s curriculum.
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“Engaging with these students in their own classroom is kind of bringing a piece of the mountain to them,” Ruggiero said.
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The daily public programming included with park admission, involves animal encounters, interpretive talks and a junior ranger program.
The junior ranger program allows for visitors to receive a booklet that includes a scavenger hunt to aid in exploring the attraction.
Grandfather Mountain’s winter park hours are daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets can be purchased from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. More information can be found, and donations are accepted online at their website.
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“Our mission is to inspire conservation of the natural world by helping guest explore, understand and value the wonders of Grandfather Mountain,” Ruggiero said.
And according to Grandfather Mountain’s slogan, these “wonders never cease.”