MADELINE - JUNIOR

Madeline Weisler, a junior here at Prep, plays basketball, runs track, and loves to spend time with her friends and family. Ever since Madeline discovered politics, she has been watching the presidential debates, keeping up with elections, and paying attention to headlines. Her parents even have a picture of her “reading” the newspaper in her highchair as a kid. As she has gotten more exposure and knowledge about the United State’s political situation specifically, that interest has turned more towards the media. For her Odyssey Scholars Project, Madeline will research how an article or news story can shape someone's political and world views. Madeline will research strategies, especially politically motivated, of distributing information and how they impact our lives, with the goal of translating this information into the creation of her own political magazine. Madeline said, “I would like to understand the media’s [persuasiveness] and connect it to their awareness and psychological analysis of their target audience, something that I hope to learn about for myself.” One of Madeline’s goals is to encourage her community to draw their own conclusions about the politics happening in our society, and provide opportunities for them to do so.

 

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER

 

Hey everyone! The first two months of school and Odyssey have been a whirlwind. We have started off strong, with the presentations of our elevator pitches and the beginning of our research. But before we even get to that, I should mention my summer. This past July, I went to the FBI Teen Academy here in Albuquerque. This experience allowed me to see firsthand a side of government that is portrayed heavily in the media (with both glamorizing and scathing reports). It was a great introduction into my Odyssey project, as I got to see for myself an organization that often gets skewed by media attention.

As I have dived into the school year, my elevator pitch was one of the first big requirements I have had to fill. Writing, revising, practicing, and finally presenting my pitch was a really great experience for me. I got to practice both the peer reviewing process, and the public speaking aspects of the Odyssey Program that will be so essential throughout my project. As I wrote my speech and started my research, I have begun to realize how much I want to know. Finding sources has proven somewhat difficult, but I am finding really interesting ways in which my topic connects to other fields. For example, I read a book chapter written by Ik Jae Chung, who combines IT and computer programs with public policy. He is a wonderful example of all the ways I can implement the research I am starting to do on politics and journalism. As I continue to do this research, I hope to find even more information on psychology, linguistics, impact of media on public policy, and more. Overall, these last two months have allowed me to see more of the scale of my topic and how many directions I can go with it. I am really looking forward to finding more resources and meeting more people who can help open my eyes to unexpected ways in which my project can be influential.