Live from July camp: Second-to-last day

“The second to last day of camp.” Those words rang through my head as I got on the bus this morning, I was excited, we were going to see WCCO today and it was going to be a blast, but at the same time, my heart was saddened because we only had a short period of time left to us.

I showed up to camp at the normal time, 9 a.m., and hopped on the computer to check mail and now the familiar Facebook like normal, but somehow it was different. I finished my story yesterday, so now it was like the come down from the adrenaline rush and flurry of activity, I was tired.

We cracked a few morning jokes and just wrapped things up as we waited to leave at ten thirty, and then, the time came, we all got up and smiling and laughing, went out to the bus. We got on and I continued to take photos, wanting to capture the moments that we had on this amazing trip we had begun. The first stop was WCCO, but we were early, so we hung out at the water fountain by the studio and I took the opportunity to snap several photos, and I climbed the fountain to get a sweet shot of everyone.

When the time came, we trouped into WCCO and we were met by a wonderful man, Scott Libin, the station manager, who began to show us around. We learned about how they set up the newscast and what goes into it and what people do. The next place we stopped was the WCCO control room, the brain of the show, where all the cameras and technology get choreographed in a complex dance to get the show to play.

We then watched the noon broadcast, and it was definitely interesting to see, there is so much that goes on that you don’t see through the television, it is simply mind blowingly amazing.

After the tour, we returned to St Thomas, and class was over, but wait, not quite, we had the camp barbecue still to attend. So for the next few hours, we chilled, or finished stories or chatted till it was time to go eat, and we were all talking and laughing and having a good time. Then Annie, Miles and Aisha, got up and began to hand us our shirts and certificates congratulating us on completing the class and having a wonderful time at camp.

— David Gustafson, July 2010 Introduction to Journalism camp