At my university, I write for the newspaper. I've been writing for them for about two months now, and I've loved every single second of it. I've written about a variety of topics, but this past one I wrote about has been my favorite thus far. I was able to go to the Justin Timberlake concert and write about it as a whole, and my experience along with it.
It was quite an interesting experience going to a concert with the intentions of writing about it, versus just going to go and enjoy yourself while you're there.
I went by myself and sat with some other journalist from other news outlets. But I didn't have anyone to talk to that I knew. Before I went, I thought I would feel alone or bored – but actually, I felt the quite opposite.
I was able to fully engross myself in what was going on around me. I was able to watch people's reaction to what was going on, listen to what they were talking about, and my own personal reaction as to what was happening.
Although I was able to enjoy the Justin Timberlake concert fully, I watched it from a quite different perspective than if I was to purchase a $260 ticket, spend over an hour getting ready, get dinner beforehand, and then go with someone.
I watched it from a more analytical perspective. When different transitions would happen between songs, whether the vibe changed from hype and poppy to slow and calm, I'd track that down in my notes on my phone to use later.
I also paid attention to costume changes, visual effects, and the dancing from the backup dancers, amongst other things.
All in all, I truly learned many things throughout this experience. I learned that it is very important to be completely present in any situation, and take everything in. Even when you're with a group of people, it is still very easy to take a step back and admire what is actually happening in front of you.
In addition to this, I realized that when recording a video - to not watch what is happening in real life through the screen, but to watch it as it is, and place my phone to my side where I could still get the video, but actually seeing it true as it is. Nowadays, it becomes very easy for us to want to record everything on Snapchat to "save to our memories", and we often forget to watch in real life and store in our brain for true memories that we will actually remember without the help of a screen.
I felt so honored to be the one who was able to go to Timberlake's concert, as I've been a longtime fan of his. It was truly an incredible experience, and I really hope I can do more coverage like this in the future.