The Heat is On

The extreme weather conditions in DC provide great stories. Any good journalist knows that by now. All the journalists set out to get the unique take on the not so unique weather. The AU Boot Camp students were divided into groups of two, and were all on a mission to get the best footage to create the story they were assigned.

While strolling around the city my partner, Keyana Farkondepay, and I made sure we had enough liquids to keep us properly hydrated. We analyzed many people and their behavior. It seems that there are quite a few people enjoying this heat in many different ways. Many people enjoy playing Frisbee, flying kites and cooling their feet in a nearby fountain when the sun is smiling.

Keyana and I have never worked together on a project, but I was pleasantly surprised by the way we clicked artistically. Of course we had our differences, but with a little give and take, we seemed to smooth things over pretty quickly. The project will take a couple of days to finish, but I am not worried at all. The process has been good so far and I am sure that will be reflected in the end result.

Rawand Darwesh on Iraq

Rawand Darwesh

Rawand is an alumnus of American University, School of Communication and currently resides in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. He spoke of the situation in Iraq and gave a different point of view as opposed to what he called “The CNN effect”. The CNN effect reveres to the imagery large corporate media companies focus on, in order to get favorable viewer ratings.

It was nice to hear that certain parts of Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region, have not been affected by the war. Many people live in peace everyday and still have a very normal life. These regions have however, been confronted with the many displaced people who fled the War affected areas.

Rawand also presented a fresh perspective on the love-hate relationship the Iraqi’s have with the USA. Many Iraqi’s were filled with joy towards the USA when they freed the people from the infamous leader Saddam Hussein. Later the relationship between these two countries took a turn for the worse. As Rawand spoke of the gratitude the Iraqi’s had towards the soldiers of the USA, I couldn’t help but recall the images of joy many Iraqi’s displayed when the retreat of the United States’ soldiers was announced.  I guess there are always two sides to every story.