In my junior year at UCSB, I took a comparative literature course, Poetry and Community, which introduced me to two talented artists whom I would later come to write news features for the Humanities and Fine Arts Department in my Digital Journalism course.

The first was UCSB student Jason Cathcart. Upon working with him in the class, I came to learn of his multitude of talents and passions, ranging from juggling to competitive chess to being the president of UCSB’s Poetry Club. I knew he’d make a great feature because of his involvement in so many arts and aspects of campus life, and I was able to sit down with him and have a Q & A, creating the HFA student spotlight article.

Poetry and Community is taught by instructor Rick Benjamin, an accomplished and passionate author and speaker. It was after my interview with Cathcart that he had told me he was coordinating Benjamin’s book release and I chose to cover the subsequent book launch for a second HFA news article. The journalism course was focused on multimedia use and I chose to record audio snippets of Benjamin’s poetry so readers could hear the his unique voice and tone.