I am Isaac Handelman, a senior at Lewis and Clark High School, and I have had the privilege of writing for the Tech Deck blog for the past seven-or-so months. The opportunity came as a part of my Practicum in Community Involvement class, taught by veteran educator John Hagney. The PICI class requires students to engage in one community-oriented internship over the course of one academic year. Having always written as a hobby, I sought out an internship that would allow me to practice this skill. The Spokesman-Review was willing to take me on as an intern, and the Tech Deck blog fit best with my interest in video games and my tendency to write reviews. 

Now the academic year is winding down, and my internship is coming to its close. Unfortunately, Mr. Hagney's PICI class is in its final year, with curriculum restraints preventing the class from existing in its intended form whilst maintaining the necessary enrollment numbers to remain active in a public high school. The situation is regrettable, as the PICI program resulted in one of the more valuable experiences of my academic career, and I'm sure most of my peers would agree.

I'm saddened by the fact that future students won't have the same opportunity for community outreach and practical experience that I did -- but I'm also enormously grateful for the myriad experiences that my internship granted me. My time at the Spokesman has granted me more journalistic critiques of my work than I've had access to, improving my craft and encouraging me to experiment with new forms of writing.

During my early days, I stuck more rigidly to my established area of expertise -- reviews. My first two Tech Deck posts were reviews of indie titles Guacamelee and Bastion, respectively. Soon, I began branching out and trying new avenues of writing. I wrote features on the Internet Archive's new video games section, the evolution of the Assassin's Creed and Mass Effect series, and the competitive scenes behind two blockbuster Nintendo franchises, Super Smash Bros. and Pokemon. I constructed countdowns and buyers' guides, lapsing back into my comfort zone in the form of reviews on a handful of occasions. But as a whole, my time at the Spokesman brought with it a much smaller amount of review writing than I'd expected -- and that turned out to be a good thing.

One of the most alluring opportunities was the chance to write about the evolution of a video game in the midst of development. Andrew Smith's indie horror title, The Kingfisher, turned out to be the subject of three of my Tech Deck posts: an introductory piece, a check-up on its aesthetic progression, and finally an evaluation of a major content addition. Smith completed work on the 1.0 version of his game, which he has uploaded to Indie DB. Those interested in giving the game a shot can follow this link to download it, free of charge.

In the modern age of the internet, the task of attracting readers is more difficult than ever for local publications like the Spokesman. However, since my time here began, the Tech Deck has made large strides forward in readership numbers, a trend that I have faith will continue thanks to the ingenuity and passion of my fellow contributors. I hope to continue my contributions to the blog in some capacity after the end of my internship. If all goes as planned, this post will not mark my definitive departure from the blog. 

I'd like to take a moment to extend formal thank-yous to those who've helped me and collaborated with me along the way. First, thank you to Dan Gayle and Kip Hill, my fellow Tech Deck contributors, who've allowed me to contribute to the blog and have assisted me in learning the ropes of the Spokesman's system, and who have collaborated with me occasionally. Thank you also to Andrew Smith, Spokesman IT staffer and current Tech Deck writer on the subject of tabletop gaming, as well as the talented developer behind The Kingfisher. I'd also like to thank my internship coordinator, Alison Boggs, who gave me the chance to intern at the Spokesman in the first place, as well as Spokesman Editor Gary Graham, whose critiques of my PICI research served as valuable guidance. 

Lastly, I'd like to extend a warm thank you to all of the Tech Deck readers who have read and enjoyed my posts and those of my colleagues. Stick around, because there's plenty of great stuff still to come.

So long (?) and thanks once again to all involved in granting me this fantastic experience.

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