Portfolio2011

n Samantha Mills

Cover Letter

Samantha Mills1208 Baldwin Drive

Orlando, FL 32806407 690-0909

May 14, 2011

Dee Dee Del RosrioOperations ManagerDover Shores Community Center2700 Gaston Foster roadOrlando, FL 32806

Dear Mrs. Del Rosario, It would be greatly appreciated to be given the opportunity to hold a position

on your operations staff for the 2011-2012 school year. I have the ability to work well

with allpeople (customers and coworkers), the knowledge to speak well to customers,

a flexible schedule, and a responsible and organized mind set. If you consider these

attributes to be of interest for one of your employee positions, please review the

attached resume and consider a follow up interview.

As an ads editor, I have learned how to communicate well to others. I have great

publicspeaking ability. I have also learned organization skills. I write everything down

and I am responsible enough to follow through with my actions.

As a former junior counselor and employee of the City of Orlando, I know the

rules and expectations of someone who will represent your staff.

As a candidate for employment, I understand the many applications you will

receive and thank you for taking your time to review mine. I have enclosed my resume

in hopes that you will take a closer look. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Respectfully yours,

Samantha Mills

Enclosed: Resume

Resume

Objective

To understand the job requirements for and obtain a job as an operations staffer at a community center.

Education

Completed four years at Boone High School

Grad date: June 3, 2011

GPA: 3.8

Experience

* Yearbook staffer (2008-2009 & 2009-2010)

* Yearbook ads editor (2010-2011)

* Junior counselor for the City of Orlando: Two years

* Counselor for City of Orlando: Three years

* Baby sitting (certified) since 2007: 4 families

Awards, Memberships and Honors

* National Honors Society

* National Art Honors Society

* Quill and Scroll

* City of Orlando Volunteer award

Personal Essay

Journalism can be your best friend and worst enemy, all at once. Best friend because it can help you get jobs and internships at magazine and newspaper companies, but your worst enemy because it can really stress

you out, both in and out of school. When I saw journalism as an elective course on the class selecting sheet in ninth grade, it sounded like something I could do. I liked to write, take pictures and play on the computer, how hard could it be right? Wrong. I spent my weekday mornings slaving away to understand proper grammar, understanding the correct way to design a layout using 17 grids and the rules of composition for a worth publishing photograph. No, it wasn’t the easiest thing to do first thing in the morning, but I began to grow to love and understand it (Okay, well not those darn grammar quizzes. They just weren’t my thing). Truth is, before actually taking my first journalism course, I though it had to be a piece of cake. But I was wrong. It took a lot of dedication and hard work to completely understand everything there was to know about journalism, well at least enough to get your through yearbook or newspaper in high school. As I went from grade to grade, journalism stuck with me as I took on yearbook starting my sophomore year. Oh sophomore year, what a wreck. I was new to the whole yearbook thing, and my first page ever was a disaster. Outside sports, oh how I despised it. But it didn’t stop me. I got through each deadline, though not met, it got done. It turns out, that the people in room 224 were a lot more dedicated than I expected. They were there almost everyday, finishing what they had to and helping others do the same. After that year, I knew what it took to succeed: time and dedication. But then a whole new can of worms was opened when I was asked to do ads staff and be editor my senior year. Ads? What was that? I had just gotten somewhat comfortable with the whole seven deadlines, different sections thing and now I had one section with four? I accepted and tried. It was all I could do. In one year, I learned the ins and outs of communicating with parents and business, placing photos in an appealing way and just about every bible verse in the book. Okay, not really. But, though it wasn't the easiest, I did it. I felt confident in running the ads section my senior year, as I should of for making every deadline, early if not on time. I'm not trying to be cocky here, just immensely proud of myself. I stayed after school, more in the beginning of the year, and communicated well with those on my staff. I know now that to succeed takes commitment, strong work ethic and ability to help others. If your all done, give someone else a helping hand. It can always be used somewhere. Even us editors need it every once and a while.

A Self-analytical

Evaluation

This year has been my best. I was a little nervous being an editor for the first time and of a section that was a bit newer. Caley, Vivien and David seemed to have everything under control

for their sections, but I wasn’t so sure. I gave it my best shot and did surprisingly well, as I was able to meet every deadline with few complaints. I have learned many important things this year. I have learned how to maximize room on a to fit up to 13 pictures, without looking cluttered. This wasn’t the easiest as most people on yearbook are used to having five to seven photos on a page. What made this even more difficult was parent request. You have to take into account that they are paying $350 for a full page color senior ad. If they want one picture bigger and another one cropped to just their daughter and the bunny she’s holding, chances are you should do your best to work with every request they may have. But it wasn’t terrible. I got better and better with each deadline, ultimately producing a very appealing section. Deadlines were not my worst enemy, as they were in other previous years. But I did learn that the deadlines staffers are given are only minor ones. The biggest deadlines are when we send pages off for proof and even bigger for when they are published. This taught me to check everything three times. Names, colors, spelling, you name it, I checked it. As ads editor, I had two other staffers. They were my individual staff. I have to say that I expected to be super stressed out about having to stay on top of them, but for the most part, they were on top of things. We learned to work together very well, doing interviews and e-mails for each other when help was needed and just being an emotional support, for me especially. We were a small family that worked well together. As ads editor, I learned that I do business managing too. I wrote receipts, mailed of bills and well as counted money, messing up a few times here and there. I had a lot more on my plate than just advertising. There was business managing, sales and communication skills that all had to be kept in mind as well. I have also learned that the book must be uniform. As a part of journalism ethics, I can’t say I am using one font and use another just because they are in that family. Everything must like the same and be presented in the same way. That’s why theme is important. Lastly, dedication is key. You cannot survive in the journalism without it. You have to there even if no one else is to hold up your end of the ladder. Each person is important into making a yearbook, as well as a magazine or newspaper. So it is important to be dedicated to what you have to do at the least, but being dedicated the publication as a whole. Dedicated to the staffer, dedicated to your readers and dedicated to your supervisor or boss.

Reflection 1

I chose Devan Fansher’s ad as my most significant piece because I felt that not only did I want to make it up to her standards because she’s a close friend,

but I also wanted to make hers pop. The reason it stands out from the rest to me is because of the vivid green in the dominant photo. It’s size, colors and composition attract the eye. Most of the other photos don’t pop like the dominant does, so when I helped her choose photo’s, that one had to be the focus. I also made hers different by helping her choose less photos to have them all bigger than in other ads. This was not difficult to make her stand out. Devan stands out naturally, so it made it easy for me to tweak the ad a bit to give it a little more edge. The green isn’t used in anyone else’s ad like hers because it is a vivid green. Not much changed from start to finish with the ad. The quote was the only thing added later. That’s another one of the reasons that it is my most significant. I was proud that I had done something that all of the other editors agreed was visually appealing.

Reflection 2

The lacrosse page I had for deadline seven was terrible. Not only was it my first sports page in at least a year, but the coaches were terrible about responding, my partner and

I had conflicting schedules and I was stuck writing the junior varsity story. How was I supposed to write an appealing story about a team the was just losing? I should have know that I was doomed when I took pictures so we could make deadline, and they were deleted from the server. Then, I spent many class periods and work nights trying to communicate with coaches on the information I needed. They had better things to do, I guess. Also, for a while I worked on the page by myself, which really stressed me out. I got many resubmits on my body copy, and when I realized my partner still hadn’t written much of hers, I took matters into my own hands to get us back on track. It didn’t work. I finished the varsity story but also received multiple resubmits. I was obviously not meant to be a sport, well, anything. Our first copy of the page had unusable photos, incorrect scoreboards, insufficient body copy and players that weren’t named. But, with the help of David and all of the editors, my partner and I got through deadline, not on time, but not too short behind. If I could change something on the page I would have more pictures taken from my partner or I, rather than professional. Also, I would have had a better junior varsity story by finding one months prior. The page looks great, but it wouldn’t have looked so good without David’s help.

Reflection 3

This is a picture I am proud of. It has rule of thirds, leading lines, it fills the frame, a great center of visual interest and amazing color. I took this photo at a foot-

ball game, where I mainly focused on the spirit aspects of the game. This is the mascot, Evan Yaros. Evan’s face is slightly off center, applying rule of thirds, but his face and head piece takes up most of the frame, allowing him to be the center of visual interest. The patterns and feathers use leading lines to bring the eye to his face. One of my favorite elements of this poem is the color. The vibrant orange and accents of white make this photo pop. I left this photo unedited because this allows one to see the natural vibrance and uniqueness that the photo brings without any corrections. People #1, rowdy crowd paint/spirit 10-28sam093.

Reflection 4

The biggest and most obvious reason I was an asset was because I was an editor. Every editor is a key element on staff. With out

them, the book could potentially be ruined. They have a keen eye for the section they over see. I was ads editor, and while I couldn’t have done it with out my two staffers, the section would not be complete if it wasn’t for me. Now, that may sound egotistical, but the truth is that I was the only one on staff that knew what to do with ads. So it was my obligation to guide my staffers to have one take my place next year. I made the ad designs, helped with parent meetings and e=mails and most importantly, did my duty as ads editor and made sure everything was up to par with not only book itself but to parents themselves. I also took on multiple stories at my staffers’ requests (their excuses were “I don’t know how”), took over and did interviews for other people’s quote pages, and fixed not only the proofs but corrections that were failed to be made from parents and other editors. These little things can be quite overwhelming. Though my staffers and I were in our “ads world,” as some may call it, I always tried to make people smile by giving them a complement, a sweet greeting or just by using my good sense of humor. I may have been only one staffer out of the over 30 we had, I felt that upheld and went beyond my duty as ads editor.

Reflection 5

As ads editor I faced many hardships this year. The first one that comes to mind is time. Yearbook consumed my life in the beginning of the year as well as took up

some of my summer night. Now, I knew what I was getting into when I took this position, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t hard. Work and yearbook often collided and competed for my time. Usually, yearbook won, but sometimes work did. I always felt terrible having to leave, but I can say that I always caught back up and made deadline when that happened. I also dealt with the complaints of parents/business owners. This may seem like it is small, but in all honesty, it is a key element in ads. It is the ad staffs duty to send proofs of the ads, make the corrections that can be made and explain why others can’t be. Often times, the staff and I forgot to send proofs, or didn’t check back on e-mails, so there were some unhappy customers. As editor, I would usually be the one to fix these issues with parents. I can remember a few times where the tone of the e-mails wasn’t so nice. I used my personal skills to talk things out and put the parents/business owners at ease. Deadline seven was also a big issue. I had not written a sports story in over a year and it wasn’t working well. I also had a hard time making time in my schedule to take pictures and go to games. The lacrosse coaches were also irresponsible when it came to responding to e-mails and giving the information asked of them. But, my partner and I really set our minds on meeting deadline and got through it, after many resubmits and ‘no ways.” Though we didn’t make deadline, we came very close.

Reflection 6

My greatest weakness was organization. I wanted to not only be more organized for myself, but also to help my staffers. I become

more organized by getting a new planner and writing everything done. I also tried to attach e-mails to contracts more. One of the most helpful things was making a list of things to check before pages were sent. Spelling, box color and index were some that were included. I plan on sitting down with Alexis to brainstorm ideas for next years ads and how to stay organized (I’m also getting her a few things to help, but it’s a surprise). I plan on coming up with a better way of keeping up with number of pictures, e-mails, requests, ect. by maybe using note cards in a box, in alphabetical order with certain information on them. Also, keeping the pictures in the filing cabinet more organized some how. There are a lot of issues that can be resolved and that’s what I plan on doing with Alexis for next year.

Reflection 7

Y59. Advertising single ad design colorPage 342

Y60. Advertising spread design black and whitePages 406-407

Y61. Advertising spread design colorPage 282-283

I chose this single ad because I had to fit more pictures than the other ads. This page was my own, so not only did it have to live up to our yearbook’s standards but also my expectations. I feel that I did a great job with flow and color separation. Rather than having the same colors around each other, I tried to balance it by separating them. I love its simplicity but yet its vivid colors and continuous flow attract the eye immediately.

I chose this black and white spread because I designed most of the individual ads. Other than the half page ad on 406, I had to remake business cards and graphics for the ads. I feel that it looks neat and is visually appealing. Black and white ads are generally the least concern in the yearbook when students open it, but I was proud to see people stop on this page and really pay attention. The page also has a lot of diversity in fonts and graphics.

For the advertising color spread, I chose this ad because of its great use of colors, beautiful dominant photos and over all flow. This spread was easy to design once the dominant photo was placed. After that, I saw the right spot for each photo and knew what colors I would use for their names. Individually, the ads are nice, but as a spread, the pictures and colors really catch ones eye.

Reflection 8

Reflection 9

My portfolios have definitely gotten better over the years. Sophomore year, I drew my design and I wrote a very small amount for each reflection.

My “go green” theme was nice but could have been much more intricate if I had taken more time. I tried, but just not my hardest. Last year, my portfolio demonstrated my ability to use tools I’ve learned through journalism and showed a better understanding of spelling and grammar than sophomore year. Last years was simple, but it definitely had an element of me, since dancing is a passion of mine. This year, I used what I learned in camp, texturing, making my own brushes and color palettes, and other interesting elements to formulate a design I like. Through the portfolios, my writing, grammar and over all appeal

Designs

Deadline 1

Deadline 2

Deadline 3

Deadline 4

Deadline 7