Chantae Hendrix's Mastery Journal

Earning an education means so much more than mastering a subject matter. Earning an education taught me the importance of thinking independently, reasoning intellectually, and deciding intelligently. This began during adolescence. 

And for this, I am forever grateful to both my parents and the education that I was able to obtain throughout my lifetime. I learned how to carefully make decisions on my own. I don’t need anyone deciding for me, or swaying my opinion that I should do this or do that.

Most often students question “why do I have to take this course?” Or “what is this teaching me?” It’s all about, analytical thinking, strategic planning and decision making.

Thank You Mom and Dad, Hubbard School Teachers, Robert Morris College Professors-and Full Sail University Course Directors for teaching me the importance of; being an independent and multi dimensional thinker, gathering the facts, exercising intellectual reasoning, not conforming to the mass hysteria, thereby making the right decisions for my better judgments. Especially now given the adversities that transpired during the year 2020.

Be yourself, think it through and don’t allow anyone else to do the thinking for you.

Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.

Mahatma Gandhi

It feels amazing to be completing my Master of Arts degree in New Media Journalism. A year ago, I set an intention, and made a commitment, therefore knew I had to see it through to completion. I am not a quitter and never would forgiven myself, had I given up.

I met my goals that I established for this course. My goals were to publish a blog that includes multimedia components, write a thesis paper on the exploration of the capstone project, and display a comprehensive study of New Media Journalism.  

I have successfully displayed a comprehensive study of New Media Journalism by creating a multimedia, user friendly, newsworthy content blog and by completing my thesis statement on the exploration of my capstone project. 

Due to my “get to the point,” and “avoid redundancy” nature, along with my continuous practice of condensing information, I struggled with writing the thesis paper. It was challenging to grasp the concept of writing about a project that I produced with specific guidelines. I wish I had the autonomy to write freely about what it took to produce the outcome rather than follow a set of instructions for a specific structure. Because I had already captured video and wrote a thousand-word article, it really threw me off guard that I would need to write more about it. I just felt as though I was repeating what I had already produced. When I set the goals for this class, I didn’t have a clear understanding of what would be required for writing a thesis. 

Given the autonomy to be creative and write freely, I would not have felt as though I was repeating myself.  My initial thoughts were that the thesis would have been about our journey towards mastery.   

Because we were required to write about our project that we completed in month eleven, I didn’t learn anything new in this course, rather it challenged my writing skills.  All in all, I’ve learned that I prefer to produce quality videos rather than write narratives. Outside of the required coursework, I produced a video with audio on  Team Purple Crank during the COVID-19 enforcements and a slide show for Admin Professional Day with my current employer.  

I am grateful for the skills I’ve acquired throughout the program.  Pursuing this degree program has diversified my lifetime portfolio of skills and taught me that I am a quality writer, producer, photographer, and visual media creator. 

More people are practicing yoga to create mobility and awaken the stagnation within their bodies.

According to Newtons First Law of Motion, “A body in motion stays in motion.”

Yoga practitioners and teachers discover yoga for different reasons. Whether it be mental, physical or emotional, stress can show up in many forms. From dealing with the loss of loved ones, breakups, weight struggles, injuries, physiological challenges, physical demands and more, they have found a way to channel the negative adrenaline through practicing yoga.

Experts, Amy Whiting and Johnny Amato weigh in on how the Physical practice translates into a response vs react mode and helps humans face daily unforeseen circumstances in a more conducive manner.

According to the Sage Research Journals, “Yoga causes change by regulating the autonomic nervous system, neurotransmitters and hormone levels.”

Practicing yoga reminds the brain the importance of practicing calmness through breathing and remaining present. Otherwise, when constantly thinking of what’s passed and what’s to come, and subconsciously holding the breath, this activates the sympathetic nervous system. The mind then becomes overwhelmed, creates anxiety and causes unnecessary stress on the body.

Practicing yoga is a therapeutic way of life. When dealing with the daily nuances of life, this lifelong practice provides pathways for people to overcome mental challenges, rebalance the physical body and respond with a more-centered state of mind. It also provides what traditional exercise cannot. Yoga can be practiced in the privacy and comfort of home. A few simple stretches, and or a daily-focused breathing routine can significantly impact one’s mood.

Erin Crosby, 37, resident and HS math teacher of Windermere Fla, describes yoga as a breath of fresh air. “Try it,” Give it a whirl,” says Erin. As a person that struggles with weight, stands for long periods of time, and deals with the stress of teaching teenagers, Erin is reaping the benefits of yoga.

Yoga is the gateway to the mind and body connection. There are a variety of styles tailored to fit individual needs. It is accessible for every type of body. There are no height, weight, age, fitness or status quo requirements. The beauty of yoga, it is a way of life that provides keys to longevity.

There is Trauma Conscious Yoga for victims of abuse; Yin Yoga to increase flexibility; Bikram Yoga to stretch and strengthen the muscles, Vinyasa styles for a more rigorous workout to build overall core strength and many, many others.

A year and a half after taking that first class, Erin says, “Yoga is an amazing form of exercise that helps strengthen, stretch, de-stress the body, focus and decompress the mind.” Also, as someone that struggles with seasonal allergies, my lung and breathing capacity have increased and my seasonal allergy symptoms have decreased significantly,” says Crosby.

“Breath controls the mind and heart. Breath is your life force. As human beings we need to take a deep breath and slow things down,” Amato says. It’s all about mindfulness. It is about calming the mind, finding peace and finding health within the body.

Diana Wenrich, 37, retired middle-school teacher (12 years), a long-distance runner and resident of Winter Garden Fla. says, “You just have to be open to it.” “I tried yoga after the age of 30.” Practicing yoga has allowed my muscles to be less tight from running.” “It also shows me how to counteract my intensity, gain better mental clarity and maintain emotional stability,” says Wenrich.

Although running is Diana’s first love, she also is a certified Bikram, Vinyasa & Yin Yoga Teacher. She teaches at One Yoga and Fitness in Clermont and Hot on Yoga in Winter Garden Fla. Both young and old, Wenrich has taught both. “Flexibility is not required,” says Diana.

Flexibility and perceived associations with religion are misconceptions for those reluctant to try yoga. It truly is not a religion nor is it about the body types, fancy clothes or advanced postures. It is not competitive, nor is it superficial. The Yoga Community accepts you as you are.

Registered Yoga Teacher and Resident of Winter Garden FL, Nick Russo says “Yoga not only helped me face many challenges growing up in an abusive environment, it also helped me build physical strength and gave me a fit body.”

In the video subject matter expert, Manager of Hot on Yoga and RYT (8 years) Amy Whiting explains how yoga is rooted very deeply in anatomy and physiology. “Whatever it is, everyone can do yoga. There are no prerequisites, all you need is an open mind,” Amy says.

Amy found yoga following a bad break-up. “I chose to do something for myself.” Practicing yoga led to teaching it. “Yoga is tied to the belief that you are capable,” says Whiting.

Owner of Hot On Yoga and RYT Johnny Amato (10 years) says “Yoga has changed my life.” Life comes at us a million miles a minute, yoga helped me stop and take a deep breath. For beginners, “I suggest do not attach any type of expectations to a class.” “Go in with a clear mind and do what you can do.” “It’s about making a clear choice,” says Amato.

According to Marilyn Barnett, the Author of Hot Yoga, Energizing, Rejuvenating, Healing and Certified Bikram Yoga Instructor, practical application has shown, as the body begins to function more efficiently, the better we begin to feel. The great control and concentration each posture demands ensure that we slow down and experience inherent calmness. After yoga practice we feel great and suddenly have a new awareness and clarity of thought. We see and respond to life differently.

The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, part of the National Institutes of Health, says in reports released that more than 30% of US adults and about 12% of children use “healthcare approaches that are not typically part of conventional medical care or that may have origins outside of usual Western practices.”

In a review of 13 randomized control studies on the effectiveness of yoga, 10 yielded significant positive results for the reduction of psychiatric illnesses, including schizophrenia, depression, and PTSD.

A Twitter List by ChantaeHendrix

#yoga #hotonyogaorlando #yogatothepeople #whiting4 #dianawenrich #johnnyamato #erincrosby #yogacommunity #amywhiting #yogawithnickorlando #bellafitzz #glitter_di

“Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the complete.” Voltaire

My biggest takeaway was setting an intention and overcoming adversity.  February was going to be a very busy month. Therefore, I set an intention to work ahead of schedule. Those opportunities did not necessarily present themselves. I faced many obstacles.  

Following a 20-hour immersive weekend yoga teacher training (Feb 1^st & 2^nd,)  I took the following day off work from my primary job so that I could dive into the NMJ course first thing Monday morning (Feb 3rd.) My routine during these past ten months has been getting up at 05:00 every weekday morning to look at school lessons.   

For reasons out of my control, the course content was not made available until the middle of the afternoon.  This caught me off guard. I thought, great, new course, day one, and I am already going to fall behind. I was scheduled to teach a yoga class that evening therefore would not have had the time to commit later.  Also, I had a vacation and planned to be out of the country therefore it was imperative for me to be proactive. I set an intention, made the most of the time and fortunately was able to meet and in some instances exceed deadlines.  

For the Public Relations and Reputation Management course, I set what I consider to be very generic, yet common sense goals for this course. My expectations were to produce error free information; maintain an internal and external professional presence, and to adhere to the code of conduct.  

During this course we were required to update our “about me” pages on our blog sites, reach out to influencers relative to our niche, and create promotional as well as public service announcement videos.  Although there is room for improvement in the broadcast quality, my goals were accomplished.   

It was a nice break to create shorter videos without written narratives.  It was challenging to get the intended messages across in a 30-60 second segments. Also, I felt uncomfortable reaching out to the influencers. Because I am still learning and have a broader vision for the appearance of my blogsite and the intent to improve the professionalism of my about me video, I just wasn’t ready to take that leap. However just the same as pursing this degree, I put my best foot forward and moved on.    

Of all the assignments, the unusual uses of Coca-Cola were the most eye opening. It was interesting to watch the corrosive build-up just melt away from the battery terminal.  Also, as I had mentioned in one of my discussion posts, learning of the disconnect between Public Relations and Journalism Professionals makes me look at things from a different perspective now. As for reputation management, I have a solid understanding on the importance of brand protection as I currently practice this concept very carefully with my current fortune 500 employer.  I like that the course provided tools on how we can monitor and protect our personal brands too.  

I gained some great insight from “Get Found Online,” by HubSpot. and will incorporate some tips from them. I am grateful for completion of the course, glad that I took the vacation and so happy that I only have 2 more months and 2 more courses to go.  

It is now clear to me as to why there is a job market for Social Media Managers.  To be successful at it, managing social media requires being able to diversify your communication style, organize carefully and manage time very wisely. It is very time consuming and very easy to get fully absorbed in.

My original goals for this course were to learn how to design a virtual community, identify target demographics and learn how to effectively paraphrase and condense content for different audiences. Accomplishing this was not easy. These were very challenging tasks.  

I was introduced to more platforms, each of which has its own lingo. It felt as though I was learning multiple foreign languages. Reddit and its rules for posting was the most challenging. Reddit makes me think of old school media outlets and what it took to place an article in newspapers.

Based off my research, although it is a popular informational platform, Reddit isn’t one of the top 3 recommended social media channels for my target demographic. Therefore, I didn’t spend a lot of time with it However, I did gain a better understanding of how to leverage social media, and the importance of posting content within certain time frames.

To improve efficiency, because there is no one size fits all when it comes to cross posting/promoting, I will consider utilizing Hoot Suite to manage my social media channels. 

Some areas of opportunity for me include figuring out different captions for the same story and understanding the proper way to tag people. Most helpful to me, were the week four videos which provided best practices for maximizing social media.  

To serve as a quick guide, I created a reference table in Evernote to help me quickly identify best practices for image size, video length, daily/weekly post quantity, and times to post given the target audience.

During my journey towards mastery, I have discovered that a lot of small business owners are only utilizing one or two forms of social media for brand promotion. They have communicated this is due to a lack of knowledge and the time commitment. Therefore, in efforts to reach a broader audience, some have hired others to manage their social media channels. Learning of this reality, I feel a sense of accomplishment since I now have exposure across a variety of platforms.

All in all, I still have my work cut out for me. However, I am satisfied to say, that as least I now have an overall general understanding of what it takes to navigate efficiently and communicate effectively across multiple media platforms.

I am excited for the opportunities that lay ahead allowing me the opportunity to edit, produce and showcase additional videos of people and events.

Chantae Hendrix 

CHendrix@student.fullsail.edu 

During the Multi-Media Reporting course (NMJ590), it was refreshing to leverage the skills that I acquired in the Multi-Media Development (NMJ550), and Digital News Production (NMJ570) courses.  My original objectives for NMJ590 did not mirror reality. I set forth goals to get familiar with video up-linking and coding.   Instead, I was able to gain additional practice at planning, recording, editing and producing videos. I needed that.    

I am grateful that the Course Director Ms. Lee provided an open platform allowing the autonomy for us to select our preferred multimedia elements. I am impressed with myself for choosing audio/video as my primary sources of publication. It was rewarding to interact and create videos for a triathlete, a health consultant and the STEM students. Producing video is tedious, but the outcome is worth the input. I noticed my improvements and felt more confident on the video production quality. I am satisfied to say, the videos were well received by the interviewees and the intended audiences.

I doubt most students would choose the audio/video media platform because of the editing, and script writing involved. I am now beginning to see the correlation between my creative writing strengths and this newfound skillset. The two work well in tandem with one another. Like writing, crafting a quality video requires many hours of concentration and a careful attention to detail. I welcome the challenge. 

To be marketable and successful in this area of expertise, becoming more efficient for a quicker turnaround time is a goal that I will strive towards.  Of course, I want to be great at it now.   Therefore, I continue to remind myself that I am still in the learning stages, and that once I gain additional exposure and practice, the speed and more advanced features will eventually become second nature. 

Whereas I never imagined I would have anything to do with photography or videography, my aspirations have now shifted from wanting to run a writing consultant business over to becoming proficient at videography. This proficiency will open many doors of opportunity. I am currently and intentionally utilizing adobe spark in my current role. I utilize it for significant events and to help colleagues bring video to their presentations. I am grateful that my portfolio of knowledge has expanded and more importantly, that I am able to put it into practical use.