Jack's team

For our first video assignment in Web Journalism, our professors paired us with one other person in the class and told us to find a story, any story, related to the Syracuse Men's Lacrosse season opener on February 20. My partner, Marie Claudet, and I wanted to do something about a young passionate lacrosse fan, a child, because we thought that would be more fun. While researching, she found that the team adopted 5-year-old Jack Tweedy last year through the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation, which pairs college teams with children who have pediatric brain tumors. We decided to pursue the story and immediately contacted his father, who agreed to participate. On Sunday morning before the game, we drove out to his house 30 min. from campus in Brewertown, N.Y., to conduct an interview (since it would be difficult to do during the game), and then drove back to meet them at the game. As part of the program, the Tweedy family sits in the first row (unaccessible to anyone else), right behind the team's bench. After the game, Jack gets to run on the field with the other players and follow them into the locker room (we weren't allowed to follow him in there). I really loved this assignment. It was a little nerve-wracking, especially since I was nervous we wouldn't get back in time to film enough of them at the game. Luckily, the Tweedy family only makes it to the second half of the game anyway. Afterwards, we had to race around and try to get an interview with Jack's favorite player, Jovan Miller. The whole process was hectic, but a lot of fun. In the week and a half after, Marie and I met frequently to sit down and edit together--a process not always so easy. Good thing Marie and I got along really well and we more or less had the same vision. Filming is difficult, and I imagine the more I do it the better I will become, but I really enjoy the editing process, merging video and pictures and sound to tell a story. It's a process tons different than writing, in that you think about what you want to do, and once you know, you just do it, and it's not as taxing on the mind. If that makes sense. In the end, our professors really liked our work, and I'm extremely proud. In an earlier post, I mentioned that I would really love to experiment with multimedia in the future, and I'm glad this course is giving me that opportunity.

To use some of the photos we used in the video, Gregg (Jack's father), asked that we sign up at Carepages to have access to Jack's personal page, where they were posted. Now that the project is over, I still receive Gregg's updates about Jack's life and progress. I didn't expect to keep my Carepages account after we finished the project, but every time I receive an update in my e-mail, I can't ignore it; I have to check to see what Gregg will say. If you want me to be really honest? I think a part of me opens them to just make sure that he's...okay. That the news Gregg imparts is good news. When we met Jack, his condition was pretty stable but, most recently, his condition raised concern. They rushed him to Children's Hospital Boston again and this morning he will undergo another surgery to remove a cyst (which looks like it may contain another tumor). He is so, so young, and it just boggles my mind that any 5-year-old should have to go through what Jack has gone through.

Our package.