2012 UCO International Festival

As part of our Blogging for Journalists class, Dr. Clark asked us to attend the 2012 University of Central Oklahoma International Festival.

When I first walked in, I was very surprised to be overwhelmed with a since of minority. Not in a negative way in any regards, but as a seemingly-white person (I am actually a fourth Lebanese), I could have definitely been categorized as a minority in that ballroom. It was almost exhilarating really. It was like the ballroom doors were actually a portal to completely foreign land. There were a handful of different languages flying around the lavishly decorated ballroom. It was definitely a cool experience.

The Iranian Student Association, Pakistani Student Association, and the Saudi Arabian Student Association combined into one booth with the theme, "Alice in Arabland."As you can see in the pictures above, students served several dishes from their collective cultures (pictured left) while they were dressed up as characters from Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland (pictured right).

Members of the Indian Student Association served food brought in food from Gopuram Taste of India, a local Indian restaurant (pictured above).


On a more personal level, I was very excited about this because one of my dearest friends, Joshua Shaun Wu Lim, plays a huge role in anything and everything to do with the international community on our campus. So, I knew he would be there. And as usual, I was right. (haha).

UCO students that were involved in putting on this year's festival pose for a group picture. From L to R: Brandon Lehman, Sahil Patel, Joshua Shaun Wu Lim, Nela Mrchkovska, Ines Manojlovska, Victor Silva, Mani Inayat, Ashley SueLyn, Mayu Yasuda, Jime Sechinbaatar, Alvin Teh & Tracy Tindle. Courtesy of UCO International Services Facebook page.

Josh is an international student from Klang, Malaysia, who came to study Public Relations at UCO in 2009. Since then, he has continued to be involved on campus in numerous organizations, such as UCO's Asian American Student Association (AASA), Broncho Buddies, and UCO International Services. Josh now holds the position of International Programming Assistant at UCO Centre for Global Competency.

He was also recently featured on the front page of The Oklahoman in an article about the state seeing an increase in foreign students.

I met Josh within the first few months of him moving here, and I am honored to call him one of the most special people in my life. We have been through ups and downs and loops and whatever else you can imagine.

As we have started creating our adult lives over the past three (almost four) years, we don't really get to see each other much, an awful symptom of "growing up." Despite the distance, I love this man so very much. He has been my rock through thick and thin. Although I have tried to describe how much Josh means to be, I cannot even scratch the surface.

I didn't really mean to take this post to a mushy, gushy place, but it ended up there. Oh, well. All that to say, I don't have a lot of friends, but the ones I do have, I cherish dearly. I LOVE YOU, JOSH!

Umm.. now what?

In celebration of applying for graduation, my brain has officially decided to stress OUT.. 

So, in celebration of my anxiety, here are some hilarious memes, ecards and comics..

'Natural-Born Bullshitter'

Alan Smith, British novelist, playwright, journalist, and professor, spoke to Dr. Terry Clark’s Blogging for Journalists class October 30.  Smith is currently a guest speaker for the University of Central Oklahoma’s Passport to England program.

Smith is a senior lecturer in creative writing at The University of Northampton, and has taught philosophy and English at Her Majesty’s Prison Wellingborough since 1999. Smith has published over 70 articles in The Guardian since 2001 about his experiences in the prison. He has published two novels through Headline Review publishing house: Big Soft Lads (1997) and What About Me? (1998).

Not only is Smith an elegant writer, but he is also a wonderful storyteller. Instead of writing an even longer biography of the Brit, I thought I would pull some great quotes from our session with him:

"If (newspapers) are not paying you for it with money, they don't value it! They will exploit you rotten!"

On attempting to publish his first novel: "Agents asked me 'who are you? and why would people want to read you?' You don't take no; you go on and on and on."

“I don’t really believe in democracy. Lenin said freedom, well, I think that freedom is so precious that it ought to be rationed.”

“The problem about the blogosphere is a bit like being a tree in a forest. There is no editorial process: it’s like open house. For big newspapers, you have to be able to construct a sentence, you have to write a paragraph, and you have to be able to spell. If you can’t do these things you will not get past the door. In the blogosphere, it doesn’t matter. If you cannot properly use an apostrophe, you are too stupid to have a degree from this university. You are writers living in the world not as you want it to be, but as it is.”

Clark: “You have to explain technology to them.” Smith: “You make me feel like Fred Flinstone.”

Clark: “Story of my life.”

Clark: “What do you think the future of journalism is?”
Smith: “Oh this machinery stuff! … Once we have used all our natural resources, perhaps in 100 years, we’ll be back to newspapers. (As for now), I’ve attended parties, I’ve even gotten drunk with the editor, but I have never stepped foot in the office (of The Guardian). I write my copy, squirt it down the line, they put in the paper, and they put the money in my bank.”

On Fifty Shades of Grey: “All they (big publishing houses) want is something for them (people) to read on the beach while they get melanoma!"

Clark: "How did you learn to be such a storyteller?" 

Smith: "Just a natural born bullshitter!"

funkadelic man

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Dr. Kurt Hochenauer, an English professor at the University of Central Oklahoma, spoke to Dr. Terry Clark’s class, Blogging for Journalists, last Thursday. Hochenauer is the creator/author of the political blog Okie Funk: Notes from the Outback and creator/operator of the liberal open blog Blue Oklahoma.

He began Okie Funk in 2004 because of “a deep need for liberal political commentary in Oklahoma.” His blog has had over one million hits and over 1000 posts. However, Hochenauer will not accept advertising of any kind. He believes in more of “a separation of opinions and journalism.”

His typical audience is made of Oklahomans and people who previously lived in Oklahoma. He has positions at the Kansas City Star, The Oklahoman, Tulsa Tribute, and UCO (for 21 years). His political credentials are mainly based on experience as a journalist for 30+ years in the political spectrum of Oklahoma.

Hochenauer admits that it is difficult to find new material. “I mean, how many times can you write about the same thing over and over? This is a problem in the blog world.”

Hochenauer has some great advice for novice bloggers. His first tip is the most important: be a good writer. He also notes, that to become a good writer, one must practice the craft. Even though it seems inconvenient, I try to practice as much as possible. Practice, practice, practice. Write about anything, anywhere, all the time! Write about everything, everywhere, every day! The more you write, the more comfortable you will be in doing so. Plain and simple.

Hochenauer admits that the blogging world has become an increasingly tough market to work your way into. However, he suggests finding a your niche in something people would actually be interested in reading.

Last but not least, read other blogs! See what is going on in the world (the blogging world or otherwise). Hochenauer says he subscribes to liberal and democratic blogs, but also regularly reads right-wing, conservative blogs to “see what’s going on on the other side.”

Overall, it was great to hear from a real successful blogger in the flesh. It was nice to listen to Hochenauer tell his story about seeing a need for something in his community, and actually doing something about it. The world, the blogosphere in particular, needs more people like him!