Day 7 (Sat., June 18)

It feels funny right about now. I am sad. I am happy. I feel funny. I am sad because the intense week is now over. I am happy because of the lasting (hopefully) friendships that I made this week. I feel funny because I don't know what to think. Today started very good. For the first time in eight days I was able to sleep in. We had only one thing to do today as part of the Latino Reporter. We had our final meeting. There we spoke about the experiences and the good times we had. Some of the concerns were brought up. But overall, we just had to thank all the professionals who took the time to teach us a thing or two this week. I learned a lot this week. Mostly I learned how to deal with the tough life journalists have to live.

A.E. Araiza said something that really impacted me today during our last photo staff meeting. He said that I will have trouble separating work with my personal life. I have to agree with him. I am already experiencing that. When it comes to work, I am all about work and I don't let anything or anyone get in the way of my job. I get very focused and sometimes forget about the overall picture. While I made a lot of friends around here this week, I believe that my straight-forward approach to work might have made me look like I didn't care about anything besides making a good image. To an extent that is true. I was out there shooting photos at 1 a.m. while some of my friends hung out and had fun. I was out there running around like crazy trying to shoot all aspects of the event in a short period of time. This week was intense. But I was ready for it. I believe that this type of internship was put on so that the top students in the country get a chance to display their talents. I guess I was caught up in showcasing my talent that I forgot to slow down. Do I regret going full speed? Hell no! Will I do it again? Perhaps. I know that our job is our job and personal life is another thing. But what happens when you want to succeed in both? You must buckle down and get the job done. Like they say, if you can't take the heat, get out the kitchen. Despite all of that, I think that I better watch out for what A.E. said. He has been in the business for a long time and he knows what he is talking about. But you can't blame me for trying to make sure the administration at NAHJ that made my trip here happen, get their money's worth.

Above is a photo of the Spanish class. Gilda is missing. But maybe she was out looking for her phone. Anyways, these guys worked hard and kept to themselves during work hours. They are the first-ever Spanish class and I believe they did a great job. I am so happy to have shot photos for that section. We made history this week. Felicidades!

Richard Rodriguez is a cool cat. He works for La Estrella, which is the Spanish section put on by the Star-Telegram here in Fort Worth. Last year while interning and freelancing for Al Dia/Dallas Morning News, I kept on bumping onto Richard everywhere. We have build a good friendship and it's always good to see this guy. That's him up there holding the front to La Estrella, which ran his photo big on the front. Good job man. See ya in the future. I always do.

During the final meeting we visited w/ each other and remembered some of the things that happened along the way.

Mariana (Florida) (right) cried as she felt a little sentimental about our last day together. Erica (Florida) couldn't help but laugh. How mean! Haha. I think she thought it was cute how Mariana showed us some love.

Elsy brought her teddy bear into the newsroom and Reportero Latino editor Juan Antonio Ramos of Diario La Estrella signed autographs for his fans.

Latino Reporter Editor Marilyn Garateix, city editor for the St. Petersburg Times, showed some love as she gave the crew final instructions.

After our meeting a group of us decided to go to the Stockyards and have lunch. Josh (Colorado) felt he wasn't going to get a full Texas experience w/o having a big-o Texas steak. Believe it or not, he finished it.

Tonight we had our final event with NAHJ. The Hall of Fame Gala and Gran Baile was held at the ballroom at the convention center. The very first photo in this entry is one of about 15 that I shot at the event. I was drained from shooting photos. But I had to make sure I got a final frame from the last event. I think I did a good job of capturing the moment. Again, I was not worried about making deadline and or giving the editor the traditional photo in order to cover my job. So, I got my wide-angle lens and got up close. Shot for about three minutes and continued my dinner.

After the dance and dinner we all decided to go to Antonio's and my room. There we partied until the sun came up. In the above photo Marielis (Puerto Rico) got down as Antonio used his laptop music as a boombox.

Cookie monster got the munchies after a few drinks. He was not feeling too well, but was able to pull an all-nighter.

Playing dominoes kept my guests entertained for a bit.

Elsy (Puerto Rico) must have had a good time. She was laughing all night.

Lynette (Puerto Rico) (left) looked at Antonio weird. I think that's when he was showing signs of being too drunk. Oops, I mean tired.

Too bad for him getting tired. Gibran (NY) and Aurora (Miami) had a field day on the poor sleeping guy. I would have stopped them, but I was too busy shooting stuff for evidence.

Someone (I forgot who -- haha) put ice on poor Antonio as he took a trip down to wonderland.

So, as you can see the partying, the hard work and the good times never ended. It has been a good week. It has been an amazing time. This is what it's all about.

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