Reflections

Over the course of the semester, I have been able to refine my reporting skills. I learned to be a keen listener and a fast writer. I learned to write down everything, because even if it doesn’t seem important at the time, it could come in handy later. I learned literally everything I know about local government in this class. It has been useful to know more about the city of Greeley. Other people now see me as a credible source when it comes to the Greeley City Council. That being said, I wish I had a little more background on government going into the class because the learning curve was rough for the first few weeks. Creating a blog and our class Web site was my favorite part of the curriculum. My least favorite part was the late-night council meetings. My favorite part about the council meetings was the big stories like the medical marijuana issue, which ended up being a story in the New York Times. My least favorite part about the council meetings was all the discussion about drainage and budget. It was extremely hard to understand and follow. The most difficult thing about this class was the rigorous agenda. If I could give a piece of advice to students next semester, it would be to stay on top of your game and not fall behind in assignments.