Tiffany Wilson Bio
Tiffany Wilson graduated cum laude from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University in June 2007.
Since graduation, Tiffany has traveled with Palestra.net to California, Maine, Florida, Texas and pretty much every state in between. She's interviewed thousands of students about this election and she managed to almost die eating blueberry pie, sniff a belly covered in preparation H and fire a semi-automatic shotgun along the way.
Despite gas station dinners and long hours in a giant blue van, Tiffany absolutely loves being a Palestra.net reporter!
myProfile
- Home Town:
- Cincinnati
- Favorite Sport:
- Rowing
- Favorite Band:
- Sugarland
- Major:
- Broadcast Journalism
recentPosts
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3
Tiffany's Farewell To Palestra
2009-03-26 10:59:36
On a hot summer day nearly two years ago,
a blue van with sunflower seeds stuck to the window
drove up my driveway.
Two guys whom I had never met
knocked on my front door,
"Hi Tiffany, welcome to the summer tour."
Pancakes they barely touched. Fruit they ate with gusto.
Raj and Gary walked back to the van.
It was time to go.
I opened the side door, slurpee stains at my feet
dropped off my bag, sat down on the seat.
GPS said Louisville - destination a gun range
I opened a magazine and thought, "Wow, this feels strange."
Just a few days before, Dave from Palestra had dialed,
"Cool cell phone number," he said. In turn, I smiled.
He asked, "Would you like to join the summer tour?"
"Yes! Absolutely," I quickly agreed.
I turned down a job in Alabama,
not knowing where Palestra would lead.
And the road has taken me places I never could have foreseen-
Trapeze flying in Massachusetts...
Blueberry pie eating in Maine...
Adding a layer to the world's largest ball of paint in Indiana...
Hot air balloon flying in New Jersey...
Prison visiting in Sean's glorious West Virginia...
Ice cream binging with Dawn in Vermont...
She-crab soup tasting with Gina in San Francisco...
Getting lost in Austin...getting lost a lot!
The summer tour slipped into fall.
The miles tallied in ten-thousands,
the hours turned into weeks.
From one school to the next I put the country in context
of football games and pre-election segments.
Joe told me to cover politics, so I studied more than school
to know the inner issues and what made Obama cool.
From icy Iowa and New Hampshire to Florida sans a coat,
Ryan, T and I flew around the country to cover the youth vote.
From the first primary in Des Moines to Super Tuesday in NYC
I learned how to do a live shot while on national TV.
The election season rolled on, Obama v. McCain
We road-tripped to the conventions. Definitely insane!
Upon return to Columbus, we focused on fraudulent votes.
From morning to midnight, I searched and researched
writing novel-thick packets of notes.
The story went national, picked up by Drudge and the New York Post,
Fox News Channel covered the issue,
I grabbed five hours of sleep at the most.
Then, the days passed and Obama won the White House.
My assignment switched to sex at college.
In pursuit of knowledge of what's appropriate, accepted and the norm,
I visited crowded bars, campus parties and even the occasional dorm.
Christmas rolled by
and my cousin offered to fly
me to Tanzania.
I went.
I stepped off the plane in Africa and saw what the other side of the world is about.
From AIDS orphans in Arusha to Nairobi's most impoverished slums,
I returned home changed.
Now, on my last day with Palestra,
I am grateful for the road that led me
to towns I never knew,
and stories I never knew would be told.
I'm thankful for the Subway stops,
and endless hours of country radio,
the editing and shooting and writing and talking and constant
life on the go.
The journey with Palestra has come to its
final end.
But just as I knew not where Palestra would lead -
I'm excited for what lays ahead.
Thank you to everyone for reading and watching my stories during the past two years!
- Tiffany Wilson
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1
Vibrator Voice Off
2009-03-25 13:43:16
It's a word I never thought I'd hear Barbara Walters utter. It's a word MSNBC's "Morning Joe" cohost Mika Brzezinkski never expected to hear. It's a word I never expected to blog about. Eight letters, three syllables, two 'r's' and an entire studio of sexual innuendo. Vibrator. After the word rolled off Barbara Walter's tongue, its reverberations lasted through 20 hours of news and landed on Mika's shocked and soured face Tuesday morning.
There it was. The word, the men, the innuendo, the awkwardness.
The thing is, the story didn't end there. Like an Energizer Bunny AAA battery, the story kept going, spilling into the next Barbara Walter's sound-off. She apologized for disgusting and offending Mika with her vibrator reference. Again, given the opportunity to lay still, the vibrator exchange kept on buzzing. This morning, "Morning Joe" ran the clip from "The View" and Mika once again had the opportunity to sit awkwardly, rolled-up newspaper in hand.
When Clark Gable as Rhett Butler uttered the famous phrase, "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." studio audiences were shocked and the film was considered vulgar. And now...vibrator chit-chat over coffee.
Does this vibrator voice off cross the crass line or does it help open the gates to more open conversation?
Click on the link above for video of the vibrator exchange.
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0
Top Colleges Worth The Cost
2009-03-25 11:47:50
Northwestern University is expensive. I could own an entire fleet of cars for the cost of my education.
Instead, I'm driving a car with a giant crack in the windshield and paying ENORMOUS student loan bills every month.
Was it worth it? Absolutely.
With the economy draining retirement funds and college education funds alike - click on the link above for the top 20 colleges worth the price of tuition.
As a Wildcat grad - I'd include the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University on the list!
Tiffany's last-5
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Is Technology Taking Over Your Life?
Blackberries, Iphones, MySpace, Facebook, AIM... Palestra.net's Cristy Gimble explores why college students are so logged on.
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Hoop It Up With Rebounders Club
Ladies' basketball doesn't always get the love, but don't tell that to the Ohio State Rebounders Club. Palestra.net's Tiffany Wilson finds out how these top fans support the females.
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Inside The Ohio State Ladies' Locker Room
When it comes to locker talk, the Ohio State women's team is all about having a good time. Palestra.net's Tiffany Wilson discovers the team's top pre-game rituals and favorite NCAA tourney perks.
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Tribute To Tampa
Visiting the University of Tampa is like taking a step back in time. Palestra.net's Tiffany Wilson discovers the legacy of UT's Plant Hall.
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Gone Crabbin'
For anyone who's ever tied string around raw chicken in the hope of catching a crab...this one's for you.
