My name is Ronna Colilla and I am a nontraditional student at The Ohio State University majoring in Journalism. Since March 2008 I have been working full-time for the university and amending a lifelong regret of not going to college and getting a journalism degree.

This multimedia project is for the capstone course of Enterprise Reporting in Diverse Communities. The project combines all the skills of journalism: research, writing, editing, photography, videography, audio, interviewing, media post-production, and blogging.

The requirement was to chose a community, become immersed in it and then to report the story. I have learned so much and been inspired by so many.

A very special thanks to the following people for their help, cooperation and support. None of this would have been possible without you.

Nicole Kraft – Professor Extraordinaire, I wouldn’t be where I am today without you
Melinda Andrew - my new supervisor who is trying to get used to my crazy schedule, thank you for your patience and understanding
Melissa Weber – the Director of Communications & Marketing for the College of Veterinary Medicine who introduced me to Dr. Dyce and helped make this possible
Dr. Jonathan Dyce – who allowed me to spend six vacation days shadowing him and following him around
Dr. Tod Drost – for relating the connection between the two departments and supplying radiographs
Kim Penrod – for answering questions and providing information
Denise Bailey – for giving the details on radiology technicians’ procedures
Dr. Jennifer Song - for sharing her story and her life with “Steinmie”
The Students, Residents, Technicians – for never appearing to mind my tools of the trade in their faces and space
          Students: Kristen Duval, Stephanie Edwards, Kristin Hobbie, Matthew McCoy, Emily Ulfelder, Libby Carstensen, Brent Crabtree, Katie Freick, Naomi Ford (intern), Kate Bakewell, Leeza Bercaw, Caitlin Jablonski, Mitch Scherer, Lauren Reeves (intern)
          Residents: Vincent Wavreille, Emily Morrison, Judith Bertran, Audrey Wanstrath
          Technicians: Amy Weatherall, Chelsea Dotter, Corey Houck, Jenny Bolon
The Patients - all the dogs who warmed my heart to see how much their owners loved them and to watch them leave on their road to recovery for a life free of pain

And last, but certainly not least – my husband, daughter, and son (John, Bethany, Phillip). Thank you for supporting me, encouraging me, putting up with me, and taking such good care of me throughout this dream of mine – especially this semester.