Sami Hall

• 4/21/2010: Radio Story - The debate over open school enrollment has barely begun.
• 4/14/2010: Radio Story - Governor Nixon is under fire after saying part of a budget bill is unconstitutional
• 4/ 7/2010: Radio Story - Manufacturing Jobs Act will reward companies that create or keep Missouri jobs
• 3/24/2010: Radio Story - Senate debates health care freedom act.
• 3/17/2010: Radio Story - State sovereignty supporters at a rally say they don't want the government in their health care.
• 3/ 3/2010: Radio Story - The Senate Agriculture Committee considers methane as a renewable energy.
• 2/17/2010: Radio Story - Penalties for repeat offenders will increase under proposed DWI bill.
• 2/ 3/2010: Radio Story - Legislators consider changes to laws about driving while intoxicated.
• 1/27/2010: Radio Story - Senator Rupp wants to repeal a bill he helped pass in 2007 because of negative effects.

Posted 05/10/2010: 

You read that right! I have finished! Only five days separate me from my beloved summer vacation.

My enterprise will be finished once I leave the Capitol today and all that's left is one easy final, packing, and moving out. It has been a very long, very hard semester, but I have survived and I think I am better for it. This break is well-deserved, if I do say so myself.

This marks the halfway point of my college education. Four semesters down, four to go. I hope that things only continue to improve (and alright, I'll be honest, I hope things slow down a little. But I know better than to expect that.) and I hope I never stop learning. My semester here at Missouri Digital News was a whirlwind of new information, new people, and new stories. Though I won't be returning here next semester like I originally thought, I will still use what I learned here as I continue my work in radio.

I feel like I have come a long way in a relatively short period of time. Since I started here, I went from knowing nothing about radio to being able to confidently write and produce a radio story in a short amount of time. It hasn't always been easy, and it was certainly never brief, but it was always educational.

With that, I don't have much left to say besides thanks. Thanks to Phill, Max, Becky, Emily, and everyone else who helped me. I hope I can return to MDN sometime in the future.

Sami

I have rushed, rushed, rushed all week. And now...

It's just time to wait.

Wait for the semester to end, wait for grades to come in, wait for residents to move out so I can close the building, wait to go to Japan to see my family for the first time in three years.

Waiting. No, not the movie, which, by the way, ruined me for restaurants for a good month.

I'm not so good at the waiting part of this whole scheme. Don't get me wrong, I like to relax, but a balance would be nice. You know, where I'm not dying of exhaustion one week and then completely free the next.

I have accomplished a lot in just the past week, and looking back, I'm kind of amazed that it all got finished. My feature on open school enrollment is almost done, and even more surprisingly, Phill and everyone loves it. That's something I never expected, but I did work really hard on it, so it's nice to see hard work pay off.

All I want to do now is fast-forward to next Sunday. That's when my summer begins and when I pick up from where I left off three years ago.

But before that, I get to wait on a plane for thirteen hours and travel for a full day.

Fantastic.

Until next time.

Sami

I am just now getting around to last week's blog post. Sorry!

The semester is starting to wind down, and of course, that means it's getting busier. Ironic? Perhaps. Inconvenient? Definitely.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel: I leave for Japan two days after finals end to see my family that I haven't seen in three years. It is what is keeping me going through all the projects, papers, and exams. Let's hope my motivation doesn't run out before the semester does.

I'm still doing everything I can to find a paying job next semester. God knows if I'm going to be coming to Jeff City twice a week next semester, I'm going to need the gas money. Cross your fingers for me. As a matter of fact, send some money while you're at it. I keed, I keed. I'm not that broke yet.

Until next time,

Sami

Apparently Missouri needs jobs.

I know, shocker. Right now, I don't think there's a state that doesn't need jobs. In fact, probably every country needs jobs right about now.

You know what? I need a job. Well, to clarify, I need a paying job. It seems like there is no shortage of jobs that don't put any money into my bank account. I work as an RA and get compensated my room and board. I've worked as an intern and got paid in experience. I'll be working as an intern again this summer and guess what? I'm earning more experience.

And while experience is priceless, my expenses certainly aren't.

The problem is not a shortage of jobs. It's a shortage of money. Everyone needs money, and hardly anyone has figured out a way to get enough.

Maybe our expectation of what is enough money is warped by our much-discussed rampant consumerism. But let's be serious, if I didn't have my parents help, I wouldn't even be able to go to my non-paying jobs for a lack of gas money. 

Money, as my mother always says, isn't everything. But it is 99.9% of everything.

Yeah, she's pretty smart.

Until next time, I remain cynically yours. -Sami

I covered the Tea Party/State Sovereignty rally today at the Capitol. It was definitely interesting.

I mean, a rally isn't a rally without a good "Braveheart" reference, right?

But I suppose this has to be better than the poop I covered two weeks ago.

My life is going a little bit haywire right now. I'm a CA (RA to everyone who doesn't know) for MU's Residential Life and that keeps me pretty busy. Add on my schoolwork and all the exams, quizzes, and papers I have to do, plus the work at the Capitol I'm doing, and you have the formula for me starting to feel a little overwhelmed.

I really hope I get to cover some really interesting stuff as the session progresses. Things like the budget, health care, and ethics are all supposed to be big topics for the coming weeks.

Sami

Today has been quite the interesting day, to say the least. I covered the Senate Agriculture Committee, which was discussing poop.

You read that right: poop.

More specifically, methane gas. The committee was talking about whether methane gas should be added to a list of renewable energy sources. I had no idea poop could do so much.

For being about poop, the committee hearing was very well-behaved. No poop jokes were made, though I am sure some were running through people's heads. And the concept itself makes sense, given that methane gas is already used across the state as a renewable energy source.

Moral of the story: never underestimate poop.

Hi! This is Sami Hall. This is my first time blogging. I'm so excited to be covering the State Capitol and I'm really looking forward to the semester.

I hope everything this semester turns out well!

Sami Hall