The Journey After Journey

The following article I wrote as a response to what Mr. Steve Aujery represents. He has not only touched thousands of people across the world but he has remained human and ready to inspire others.

On October the 5th, Autmus Fest brought to Texas A&M International University a great number of performers and musicians that entertained the student body and other locals who attended. Among these groups, there was one particularly star, Mr. Steve Augeri. Augeri is an American rock singer best known for his work with Tall Stories, Tyketto and Journey. Journey was founded in 1973 and has become one of the biggest American rock bands of all times; the band has earned 19 Top 40 singles and 25 Gold and Platinum albums.

Augeri arrived to Laredo early Saturday October 5th and had little time to experience the culture and the town itself. However, he tells us he was excited to be this far south. Even though Journey has a great number of fans in Texas, Augeri had never been to Laredo. Even though the time has been short, Augeri says “I love the architecture, I love the weather and especially I love the food!” “Sadly” he says, “we won’t be able to stick around very long.”

The singer shared with The Bridge his excitement of being here at TAMIU and that he doesn’t know what to expect. “Every time you are in a university setting, there is a great energy from the crowd, you know I am easily twice their age so I am going to feel like a vampire sucking their youthful energy and then I’m going to throw it back at them filtered through this old body and this old mind full of experience; I think we are going to enjoy each other very much,” he commented.

Even when the road was over in Journey, Augeri has put together his own band that he finds very appealing since it has members from different places in the country such as New York and Chicago. He believes that this can help the band to create material that would appeal to a larger audience. Augeri has, so far, released two singles, For the Rest of My Life and Behind the Sun, both available on iTunes. During the event, Augeri assures us that some of the greatest hits of Journey such as Don’t Stop Believing will be sang as well as his new material.

Augeri left the group Journey back in 2006 and had then to find his way up from there. He tells us that leaving the group was not only heartbreaking but also represented a “healing experience” as he calls it since by the time he left Journey, he was facing health issues. However, after a couple of years of recovery, Augeri was able to bounce back and do something that he loves “I was able to fulfill my dream of singing” he says “I was an astronaut not being able to go to space” he added.

Augeri gave us a little insight into what we should expect from him for the future and all he can say is that “we are just evolving, just like music, like the world is evolving and unfolding before our eyes; we welcome what the future brings and hopefully create more interesting music” “I think that what the world need is art, more and interesting art” he concludes.

Without forgetting about the university crowd, Augeri gives us a few words for the young people out there, “Certainly I was never a role model, nor do I think that I have the credentials to give advice, but one thing I can give is that ‘rather that success and money’, your main goal in life should be happiness, and that if you can make the world a little better, even a little better than you found it, you should feel fulfilled; be honest and listen to your heart.”

For more information about the artist, visit www.steveaugeri.com.

(Alejandro Meza can be reached at jalejandro_mezalopez@dusty.tamiu.edu)

Photo by Alejandro Meza

Aspire to Inspire

From her humble beginnings at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA), passing by The Post in New York and MTV.com, all the way to Laredo, TX, appears a hard working reporter that has proven that we do not need years of training or experience to excel in our professional life. Elizabeth Keatinge is a young reporter at KGNS-Laredo who has come a long way to be where she is at. She was born in LA and grew up to study English Literature at UCLA. However, her dream was to become a great reporter. One of her main inspiration to chase this dream was her grandmother, Mrs. Keatinge, who was a journalist. She warned Elizabeth that if money was what she was looking for, she was not going to find it in the news world. Nonetheless, this did not frustrate her aspirations since she was well aware that newspapers and television news was what her heart strived for.

Back in UCLA, she learned that if she wanted to pursue her dream she would soon have to leave home and move to a city where the opportunities would take her farther. That is when she decided to move to New York and chase her dreams. She began to work at The New York Post, an entertainment newspaper in NY City, where she covered mainly soft stories. However, that was not enough. She acquired a job at MTV.com where she wrote about music and films. It was through this experience that she got her first exposure to the usage of video production equipment. She also decided to increase her academic preparation and enroll at Georgetown University, where she would get a master’s degree in Journalism. After four or five years of working hard at The Post and mtv.com, Elizabeth decided that it was time for something different.

With little to none experience over Border City matters, Keatinge was hired in Laredo, TX where she learned that the culture was not the only factor she needed to get acquainted with, she needed to learn how to speak Spanish; but this would not stop her, “If something scares you, you should try it” she said. However, the struggle was not over for Keatinge, the position that she had gotten at KGNS Laredo was not only as a reporter, but also as the “cameraman”, who is in charge of filming the story as well as doing edits on it, and prepares it for every show, for her own stories.  She soon learned that having control over the images and the story gives the reporter the full power of creating a story according to how she imagines it should be seen. However, not everything was great news for her; she began to realize that this kind of career can get really stressful at times.

Keatinge gives us a little heads up about what other factors that young reporters should look out for in order to get great and informative stories. “The one and most important of them is that preparation is key” She said. For instance, to always know where to look and under what rock to dig in order to find good stories. She says that “little facts can spawn a whole story” and that is “always good to be in the lookout for those details”. One of the greatest things that Keatinge has learned is that it is “a great honor to have people share their lives and stories with her”. Her advice to journalists in border cities is that they should be aware of the language barriers and try their best to prepare to be at least 80% fluent in Spanish, and that’s just to be competitive.  

Some of Keatinge´s favorite topics are Small Businesses, the Farmers Market and humanitarian and social events at TAMIU. Finally, Keatinge gives us a reminder that even when hard, competition is healthy. As for her, even when she values every experience she has had, “she would never plan ahead” she says, meaning she enjoys every job she gets and hopes to keep it as long as she is needed to. However, she does have aspirations to get farther. Specifically, she would like to cover war stories, work overseas, and basically any story that involves traveling and getting international exposure.

Her visit to TAMIU has helped students in the Communication Department to better understand the professional environment for what they are preparing for. This makes the experience more valuable for those who are interested in pursuing a journalism career in Laredo or any other Border city. More information about Keatinge and other reporters in Laredo can be found at www.pro8news.com or at the KGNS offices located in Del Mar Boulevard.