College journalism fair provides hands-on information

By Maggie White
Teens in the Newsroom

E-Mail

Comments (0)

Text Size:

tool goes here

On Oct. 26, after our bi-monthly Teens in the Newsroom meeting at The Modesto Bee headquarters, my fellow teen reporters and I headed down to a conference room for a college journalism fair, sponsored by the newspaper. There we met several representatives from a variety of universities, 25 to be exact, which included schools in Arizona, Illinois, California, the District of Columbia, Kansas, Oregon, Missouri, Nevada, Nebraska, and Wisconsin.

After picking up several pamphlets and even a can of mints, courtesy of the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at Washington State University, I had the chance to talk to a couple of representatives from our own Modesto Junior College.

Laura Paull, who is the journalism instructor, said that her program "gives basic training in reporting and online journalism and helps you develop a wide range of skills."

Her advice? Try it before you commit.

Dionne Evans was also promoting the MJC journalism program. An 18-year-old journalism student at MJC and a graduate of Johansen High School, she is a member of the Teens in the Newsroom program and also helped out with her high school yearbook.

She said that if her teacher, Paull, likes what she writes for class, she will sometimes put it in the Pirate's Log, which is the junior college's monthly newspaper.

With the helpful volunteers from The Bee newsroom representing the schools they attended and so much information available from around the country, students at the fair had ample opportunity to receive advice and recommendations.

Being interested myself in pursuing a career in journalism, I found the college journalism fair informative and enlightening. Although it will be a few years until I start considering and applying for universities, I was glad to have the chance to start exploring my options while still a freshman in high school.