Now that I am about to leave this place which I have called home for the last two and a half years, I can’t help but look back at what that time brought. I definitely have a great appreciation for the photographic community in the Bay Area, with SFBAPPA, AAJA, Fotovision, etc. continuously providing me with more inspiration and education. And of course, I have no idea where I would be without the family of photojournalists I made at SJSU as we worked to improve our own work and the program.

In my first few posts back in 2005, I explained that I decided to attend SJSU to get a well-rounded education to compliment any photographic training. In fact, my favorite classes while here at SJSU have been the ones that I have taken in the last couple of semesters and have had nothing to do with journalism; Thought Control, Magic, Science and Religion, Asian American Communities, and Theories of Culture and Society.

To anyone who might be interested in attending SJSU for journalism I would explain to them, as was explained to me the other day, that the groom graduates for positions in small market newsrooms usually within California. Emphasizes are not super-specific, such as an online track (at least not yet, they are currently hiring a multimedia instructor), but you will learn solid reporting and storytelling skills. The photo program has a long history, with a more rocky recent past. Still, I am sure that the partnerships and upcoming trips abroad with the Mercury News and National Geographic will raise interest level and enrollment. There is also a HUGE community of SJSU photojournalism alumni who are just dying to help out in some way or another (everywhere I go I seem to end up running into someone from SJSU).

Still not sure how I ended up here, but glad I am.