I began the first semester at the University of Southern California (USC) amid the coronavirus. Terrified that the twisted world of a pandemic had altered every reality, I was very nervous to live up to the standards of a university of such caliber.

People told me prior to entering that it would be tough and gave me a perspective where my imagination was going wild. I imagined professors as humanoids. I imagined assignments from out of space, and I imagined something that was really freaking me out.

Finally when I arrived, I realized that I should not make presumptions that stress me out so much. One of my first classes was Visual Journalism 321. The syllabus was very clear and every assignment was explicitly described with examples. Trusting that I always work hard I started learning about portraits, wides, close shots and the rule of thirds that was actually my favorite.

One of our first assignments was to write a story and practice the five different shots we learned in class. This was at a time when my grandmother had just passed away and I really felt like I was pushing an elephant. I still feel that way because I haven’t had the chance yet to go be with my family. But my love for journalism helped me deliver all of my assignments during that time.

During this semester I really wanted to write about something interesting and the fact that we were unable as students to go out for stories, really made me feel as if my hands were tied. But here I was, with one of my coworkers Robert, creating my first story for the class that focussed on the different shots.

This was also the time when I started thinking of photography in a different way. I really felt that my creativity was gaining a lot of momentum and I wanted to take pictures all day. Since then, I have not stopped taking pictures without thinking if I got all 5 shots.

As we continued with the class, there were many times that I was in awe, many times that I had a difficulty to follow new apps that we were learning, and many times that I felt that I was learning so much that I always looked forward to the next class.

One of the things that surprised me was that I never thought about lighting in the way I was taught in this class. I always thought that video stories had a secret way to make them look so good, some kind of filters. Some of them indeed have filters, but when we started playing with lighting our own images, I realized I was able to create something greater.

One of my favorite stories I did was on instagram when we uploaded about 10 clips of a story. I had recently gone to the Staples Center and I really liked the footage I had taken. When I was there I was again thinking of all the different types of shots I had learned from class 321. At the end, I left Staples with such pleasure for my video shots and my interviews. I made sure to take 10 seconds of each clip and I was surprised how much that helped during editing.

When I uploaded it on instagram, I decided to make it fun, and contradict the seriousness of the voting matter with a type of music that added a humorous element. All this is not possible to be viewed here but you get a taste from the video above.

Another fun assignment was when we worked on blending stills and audio. I conducted my interview on zoom and then I took pictures at the Rabbi’s backyard from afar due to COVID-19. I really liked the fact that I was working on premiere-pro and was becoming better in editing. My most difficult part was entering subtitles.

This was the moment that I decided that when I finish school I will pay for someone to do that for me as long as I don’t have to do it myself ever again. Well, it wasn’t that bad…

I felt really blessed that day, because not only I was able to focus and implement things that I was learning in 321, but I also met this wonderful human being, the Rabbi.

Besides all the interesting information I read at the Kobre book online, what really made a difference for me was implementing everything I was learning.

The ethics and law for visual journalists provided some great insights and although, there were many things I was already aware of there were some others that needed revision. For example, I was unaware that I was not allowed to alter pictures not even a little. To be honest I always thought that a little bit of lighting was harmless. But working without being allowed to change anything on my photos, helped me become a better photographer, and work with natural light instead.

Our final video was very difficult for me, again because I was unable to go out and find a story. I am usually interested in various stories that may carry a strong message. For example, my first story as a journalist was about a guy who was shot in the head when he was 7 years old by an 11-year-old. So, stories that carry an inspirational message like this one intrigue me immensely.

Since I was unable to do something like that, I chose Alex. My uncle’s boyfriend is one of the best people anyone can meet. I worked a lot on this project, probably non-stop for days. I wanted to get the perfect shots, but I also wanted them to be real and capture Alex’s spontaneity. So, I asked him to tell me when he would cook his favorite food from Iran and I followed him as he made it.

I paid close attention to capture all of the images we learned in class: the wide shot, the medium shot, a portrait, a close shot, a detail shot and something creative of my own choice. I interviewed Alex, my uncle and their friend who lives in Chicago, and I edited on premiere-pro. My perfectionism got me overworking myself and looking for the perfect sound to accompany this video.

I wanted it to be about Alex during quarantine, with an emphasis on his sweet character and his cooking. At the end I really felt good about this project and I submitted it.

This class has shown me how to be a journalist in a whole different level. It showed me that I can write, I can create photography stories, videos and edit my own material.

And this is only the beginning…I can’t imagine how I will feel when I graduate.