adysnschachtel316-jpnks

My name is Adysn Schachtel, and I am a sophomore at Creighton University. Since being at Creighton, I have changed my major maybe five times and have created maybe 30 different schedules per semester. Lots of things have been going on and I am still trying to decide what interests me the most. As of now, I am thinking about going down the JMC: Public Relations route with a minor in business administration. Kind of a jump from my last plan which was majoring in Health Administration Policy with a triple minor in public health, legal studies, and global health equity. You might be asking (probably not) why Health Administration policy? Well, when I was a junior in high school I travelled to the Dominican Republic and did community service with a company called MUDAH that helped Dominican Haitian women and children receive basic necessities for life alone with legal help that helps with healthcare and citizenship. The link for MUDAH can be found here if you would like to read more on this incredible organization. I was fortunate enough to work with some amazing people that I will remember for the rest of my life. That community service trip really made me want to go into law school and become a human rights lawyer that specifically focuses on the discrepancies and discrimination in Dominican Haitian everyday lives.

(Photo taken from my phone in the Dominican Republic)

Now, while I could go on and on about my experience with MUDAH, that trip to the Dominican Republic also taught me about media in ways you wouldn’t necessarily expect. To preface, when I think about media I immediately think about technology, phones, pictures, videos, and content. I would like to think that I don’t spend an unhealthy amount of time on my phone, except when I am on vacation or a trip, especially a trip like community service. I felt and felt as though I had to capture every moment with a picture or a video and then post it, so it felt more real. It sounds terrible to say but posting things on social media like a community service trip is to show your friends, family, and a lot of times even strangers what you are doing so you feel important or cool, or even above others in one way or another. Even though I do this; after my service trip to the Dominican Republic, I immediately created an Instagram post while literally sitting on the plane flying back to the United States. Picking out my pictures, deciding what caption to use, deciding whether I want to pin a location, and what time I should post the content.

This is something that truly frustrates me about news media and social media. The things you post from these trips are not even highlighting the most important parts of the trip that would be worth posting for others to see. Instead, we pick the pictures our hair and smile look the best in. I know I did this for this trip. I made a whole Instagram post of me, just me, instead of a picture or a video that actually highlights the trip like this video of me and my classmates dancing with the young girls from MUDAH. That is where we come to a fault in using media. The media should be not only for yeah maybe posting a cute picture here and there, but also to spread awareness about different things happening all over the world. We can see this fault in news media and media that involves journalism as well. When journalists and editors are deciding on which story to use, are they really picking the most influential and educational stories about human rights violations or problems within the healthcare system? Or are they choosing the most attractive stories about a celebrity break up or a multi-millionaire company being busted for the third time over a financial scandal?

To conclude this post, I want to add that we are so fortunate to have amazing technological advancements that allow things like media, specifically social media to even exist. Society is completely linked and intertwined with the media; there is no question about that. The real question is if we are using it in the best way possible? I’ll let you decide that on your own.