It's been an honor to be a part of two independent study projects. This kind of learning is an important experience for students as it develops critical thinking and promotes creativity and intellectual curiously. Sstudents engaged in self-directed, active learning take ownership over their projects and tend to apply the lessons learned from these experiences as they begin their careers.

A Visual Year

This project celebrates the work produced by some 70 Rochester Institute of Technology photojournalism students created from Jan. 1 thru Dec. 31, 2015.

Seven senior students interested in picture editing spent hundreds of hours collecting and reviewing tens of thousands of images and video content produced during the 12-month period. They carefully selected and sequenced the work, first as an extended video trailer, and now as part of this website, which was built by four of the seven students.

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Borinquen Culture

While talking to members of the Puerto Rican community in Rochester, JuliAnna Patino and Maridelis Morales Rosario became interested in sharing more about the culture to the general public. JuliAnna shared, "I explained to one man that for this story, that it would be a vehicle highlight the positive aspects of the community and normalize them to the rest of Rochester." The man thought this was a great idea, she writes. He added, “since everyone here thinks that Puerto Rican people here are drug dealers, killers, and hookers.”

The two students created a website featuring visual storytelling from the community, JuliAnna said, "I would like to tell the story of the community that is not seen on the surface, and to hopefully create a connection between this community’s lives and the populations of people that alienate them. It is more times than not that our country forgets that Puerto Ricans are in fact Americans, and although there are cultural differences, they are truly just like us. They go to church on Sunday’s, they sign their kids up for baseball, and so on."