Target Audience

In discussing the needs of 'Norman Food Fans', one must consider the following: What food options are currently available to them? Is there anything lacking in their food connoiseur lifestyle? Where could they find those things they lack? Are there ways for them to add a wider menu selection to their nightly dinners? These questions and more would be answered in my articles addressing my target audience- 'Norman food fans'.
While Norman is a place of great cultural diversity, their distinction in food tends to falter. The tragedy is, there are many distinctive restaurants to be discovered in the OKC metro area, yet their lack of publicity keeps their name under wraps. Time and time again Norman residents will find themselves among the chains of I-35, stuck in the rut between Chili's and Applebees. Addressing my target audience, I plan to explore such cultural landmarks and, through my articles, make them household names.
Also in broadening the horizon of those Norman citizens interested in doing so, I would like to write about the cultural associations with certain holidays and food - Passover, Easter, Valentines Day, Lent, etc. Where did the culture begin? Is it still a time-honored tradition or has it been commercialized? Also, in these articles, I could explore different vendors that sell authentic holiday food, or how to make it through Valentine's Day when you're on a diet.
These articles would most hopefully benefit college students. Easy Mac and PB and J's get old quick, so I could produce articles geared towards teaching college students how to eat richly with few resources. This could branch off into many facets, such as cooking gourmet in a dorm room or how to get the most out of fifty dollars at the grocery store. The latter idea could serve Norman citizens on a budget as well.
On a similar note, I could also write about the food provided by the university, and how they are taking an interest in student's health. So often junk food is the most consumed item, often because a healthier alternative is not provided. How is the university counter-acting this? Do they plan to provide nutritional information? Will they add more health-conscious things to their menus?
Last, I would like to cover events centered around food. Does Norman offer cooking classes? Where can a Norman resident go to learn cake decorating? And even though it has already passed, things such as the Chocolate Festival or the State Fair would be excellent events to cover that traditionally are surrounded by food.
These and the other topics we discussed through e-mail will all broaden the options for a Norman resident who has taken an interest in food and wishes to integrate more interesting experiences and meals into their daily lives.

About Me

I’ve always wanted my life to be enviable. I blame it on the Women’s Rights movement. Even though the unofficial holiday was meant to inspire my career aspirations, I absolutely hated going to my parent’s offices on Take Your Daughter to Work Day. I hated the fluorescent lights, the carpeted walls, the lack of creativity, spirit, passion and lack of color. Everyone always seemed busy and unhappy. At the ripe age of 10, I vowed that I would do something interesting and worthwhile with my career, something I would regale stories of to my grandchildren. Even though I had no preconception as to how this vow would be achieved, I blissfully skipped through elementary school knowing I was going to be different from my housewife-bound classmates.

My freshman year of high school, it occurred to me that dance, a hobby I had loved since I was three, would be a perfect profession. I had always harbored an intense passion for the art. My heart would fill with emotion when I would see members of the Tulsa Ballet move an audience to tears with their grace and other-worldly bodies. I attended a small dance school and was a member of pom, so I naively decided that would be more than enough experience for me to thrive in the dance world. It would be that easy. I would attend Oklahoma City University, alma matter of Kristin Chenowith. I still had stars in my eyes and was incredibly excited for my dancing future.

Turning your passion into a career is tricky. The same joy I had experienced throughout my formative years simply became a job. I resented my teachers for telling me I was overweight and not good enough, and I found no comfort in the unforgiving hierarchy of the dance world. I absolutely hated auditioning, and took rejection very personally. I developed serious body and weight issues and became highly reclusive. I was never diagnosed, but I was as close to depressed as an upper middle class suburban white female could be.

My parents and I then decided to re-work my life route. It took maturing for me to realize that they never were unsupportive of my goals. They just knew the hard knocks of a dancer’s life. We decided it would be best for me to have a back-up career path. So I applied to OU and became a journalism major.

Never have I been so happy with a decision. While I still love to dance, I have found that there’s room in my life for other passions as well. My whole body fills with adrenaline for every countdown on OU Nightly, even if I’m not on camera. I love hearing positive affirmation for my writing, and I love knowing that I have successfully told a story.

I also have scaled down my glamorous life requests, and in doing so found that I am most interested in local news. Local news doesn’t require the flash of major news networks and keeps a community in touch with one another. However, in pursuing local news brodcast I am aware that I will often have to be a 'one man band'. I have wanted to learn FinalCut and Photoshop for years, and I am so excited that Multimedia will help with this.

I hope that through this I may have a very small, but positive effect on the world. And yes, I may have wide-eyed aspirations, but there shouldn’t be such a vendetta placed against optimism. We could all use a little hope.