Ever since I learned how to put words together, I’ve always loved writing. I’ve found countless notebooks, filled with writing, from as far back as when I barely understood how to spell. While most of the writing I’ve done throughout my life has been creative writing, writing for NWIndianaLife opened the door for me to try a new type of writing.
This opportunity was something like I’ve never experienced before. I had never done official reporting with guidelines to follow and deadlines to meet, but I was excited to try it out. Writing for NWIndianaLife challenged me and took my writing to the next level. Knowing that my work would be representing my entire school and community was both daunting and exciting. My work had never been published like this before, and I am grateful that I was granted this opportunity to have my writing recognized by many people.
Throughout my time as a #1StudentNWI reporter, I have reached out to a lot of people, and subsequently learned a lot about the teachers and students at my school. The students in high school can sometimes be divided into cliques, and I think it’s important to break down the walls between us. I learned about people who belong to all different groups, and I would suggest that all students do this. High school goes by too quickly to confine yourself into one social group. My main piece of advice for budding journalists would be to reach out to new people that you may have never talked to before. You never know the story that someone may be able to tell.
I think it’s important to highlight students’ accomplishments throughout high school. So many students are extremely talented and work very hard, and it’s a shame if they are overlooked. Throughout the articles I’ve written, I’ve noticed just how much our community has done. We’re a small town, but, over the past two years, we’ve had many accomplishments, such as success in athletics, academics, art programs, and many important events. I’m glad that I was able to report on these things and share the good news with other people. I have loved getting to represent my school to the rest of Northwest Indiana.
Much of the media I encounter daily has a very negative portrayal of our society. I think that this is a huge problem and makes the outlook for our future very discouraging. While there are bad things that occur in this world, there are still a lot of positives that deserve attention as well. I really enjoyed being able to highlight all of the positive aspects of my community through this internship.
Being selected to be the #1Student for Lowell was an honor. I’m very thankful to have been able to do something I really enjoy while receiving valuable work experience. I would highly suggest this internship to other students who enjoy writing. There’s many things that I learned from this opportunity, such as bettering my writing abilities, learning about my community, gaining better communication skills, and much more. I would suggest that future potential #1Student reporters definitely take this opportunity to see what it can do for them.