A Year With Ms.Hart
Alexandra Hart, my mentor for the academic school year for an independent study class offered at my high school. This entire product was inspired by Ms.Hart and the conversations we have had throughout the year. Ms.Hart and I spoke a lot about radio listening awareness, how it has changed since streaming services and such have become increasing popular. One evening, while I was lying in bed I had the idea to make a website completely dedicated to personalizing radio and working to get people to tune in! Ms.Hart would help me further develop this idea by suggesting tabs and information that should be featured on this site. This project is for her and all of the work we put in this school year!
So, read and watch all things Ms.Hart below!
The Framework Of Ms.Hart
It all began on a plane ride to Hawaii for a family vacation. Ms.Hart was in her early teen years with nothing to do on a seven hour flight, which led her to pick up a copy of Texas Monthly. The story that caught her attention was about a killer nurse, injecting her patients and ending their lives. But, despite the morbid material, the story made Ms.Hart realize that she would one day love to be a journalist, someone who can write about interesting stories and be informative all at once.
Then, Ms.Hart would submit a piece of her writing to the University Interscholastic League (UIL), a Texas extracurricular competition that encourages students to find their passions and pursue them in a competitive manner. It was only Ms.Hart's sophomore year in high school when she submitted her piece and was awarded first place in the Featured Writing category. This was a major turning point for her, not to mention her outstanding English grades that in the end led her to the conclusion that she could in fact pursue writing as a career.
At this point in her life, Ms.Hart had decided what she would study in college, being in the top ten percent of her class offered her an ample amount of colleges to choose from. Ms.Hart however, landed on the University of Texas at Austin where she studied journalism.
Ms.Hart would then embark on a two year internship at the Texas Standard during her college years, another internship she would have would be for the PBS Station KLRU. From there, she would intern for the radio station KUT, the station she is still with today. Ms.Hart aids in producing the radio show and writing/investigating stories of her own.
When she's not writing away, she is out enjoying the beauty of nature, through gardening, camping, and gazing at the sky from her hammock. Ms.Hart has come a long way in her career and personal life, she is someone that I can proudly say I look up to. When looking back at our year and all the wonderful things she has taught me, I can confidently admit that she has made me a better person, she reignited the passion I have for writing and learning. Although the year went by in a flash, I can only hope to continue learning from her. I hope this page will lead you to her work, because it is excellent (to say the least).
Going Virtual Does Not Halt Learning
With the inevitable changes that the Covid 19 virus forced upon people, my year of study was not an exception to this new way of life. Transitioning to strictly virtual learning and assignments, this would reflect in the way Ms.Hart and I met.
For example, when I had my interview with Ms.Hart and Laura Rice (Co-Host/Producer). I reached out to them via email upon searching for radio stations I could be a mentee for, they were one of the only stations to get back to me (which I think is fate!). We had our interview over Zoom, where I would be taken on as a mentee.
If it were any other year (a 'normal' year), I would have had the opportunity to visit Ms.Hart in Austin, I could see her, her work environment, meet others throughout the building, and further be exposed to the Austin city lifestyle. However, that is clearly not how things went this year.
Ms.Hart and I would meet weekly on Zoom calls, lasting anywhere from 15 minutes to 45, we would discuss questions that I had previously prepared and questions that would come up throughout our discussion.
During the meetings, I was required to take notes for an assignment in class called, 'Mentor Journals', a google doc where we transcribe our notes to turn in. Pictured to the left are examples of the messy notes I would take throughout our meeting, to enthralled by our conversation to care what my writing looked like.
I was very fortunate that Ms.Hart was so willing to answer all of my questions and further discuss them in depth with me. We have spoken about everything from mental health being affected by media to the type of traits one has to have in order to succeed in the journalism/radio world. She validated my thoughts and brought up others that I wouldn't have even considered.
This all to say, that despite the challenges this year has taught and inspired me so much.
An Interview With Ms.Hart
Below is a video of me asking Ms.Hart questions that we have previously talked about, that I thought should be featured, I want this discussion to offer a glimpse of what Ms.Hart and I discussed and to further show how wonderful she is!
Thank you again Ms.Hart and thank you all for watching!
Here's the link to Ms.Hart's award winning story! ( https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/an-east-texas-marching-band-upholds-a-tradition-maybe-for-the-last-time/ )
Trust me when I say it is a wonderful read!