Breaking the Ice

Someone has to begin.
I think you'll find that blog posts vary from personal, like this one, to formal. In my previous project, washingtonat2400feet.blogspot.com, I wrote the latter. (And if you read this and it doesn't make sense, please remember that I'm still behind on sleep.) Whichever style you decide to post will be welcome. Please add your first and last name as a one-word label under your posting box. (Tag it with your name as I did below.)

Who is Amy Meyer? (If you're wondering--otherwise, skip this section.)
I have an advantage here. I've read everyone's resumes, but none of you have read mine.

I'm a 4.0 student (quick, get me some wood to knock on) double majoring in visual communication design and journalism. The last journalism class I need will be law of journalism, which I will take in the fall.

This year I worked under the title of Program Aide II for the Office of Information Technology at EWU. My tasks included thawing and updating computers, troubleshooting the 17 poorly-behaved Power Macs in the Digital Arts Lab (ART 207) and assisting students with Adobe software like photoshop, illustrator and a little InDesign. (Desiree will tell you that I did some Dreamweaver too, but I tell you that I flubbed through it.)

I volunteered at The Easterner copy desk during spring 2010 and I was hired as a staff writer for spring 2011.

Last November I worked the Associated Press call center in the PUB MPR with data entry. The big skill I developed was to repeat information that was spoken to me so that the caller knew whether or not I had the right numbers. (You're yawning now, I can hear it.)

I've volunteered with the Cheney High School Band Parent for five years now. I've been in charge of the spring jazz night fundraiser for the last four years, which brought in around $3,000 for the musicians this year.
During the spring a couple years ago, I headed up an audit of the Band Parent's account.

In the past, I've assisted with their apple pie fundraiser; this year I headed up the effort. I orchestrated around 100 parents and students to assemble around 1100 apple pies from scratch. I purchased ingredients, others I negotiated bargains for and networked with parents to discover how we could acquire donated ingredients. We assembled and froze those pies over two weekends. It was a huge endeavor.

In 2001, I started the Habitat-for-Humanity Spokane homeowners' association. I was awarded homeowner of the year and was invited to join the board of directors as a homeowner consultant. I accepted the invitation and was on the board for six years, which is the equivalent of two terms.

Plans this summer:
Aside from planning out the year and working on improvements like a new website (Stuart) and lighting kits (Doug), I'm interning at The Cheney Free Press. I'll lay out two pages per week and write one article, or so I'm told. I'm pretty excited about that.

I'm going to Seattle for a reception on June 10 with the Washington News Council. I've won the Dick Larsen Scholarship for 2011-12. (No, I'm not loaning you money.)

I'll fly to Anchorage for my adopted stepdaughter's wedding within a week after that, to Minneapolis for a journalism conference at the end of July and to Portland for the OCW writers' conference (fiction) in Salem (?) in the the middle of August.


In the meantime, I need a nap.