A Deep Dive Into How MIPA Students Incorporate Journalism Into Their Lives

“Journalism means a lot to me. I didn’t join it until my junior year of high school which kinda was a bummer, but I’ve really learned a lot about who I am and what I want to do so I think it’s helped me become myself in a way so I really enjoy it for that reason,” Conover said.

Fun Fact: “I babysit three kids and they have an indoor pool,” Conover said. “I got into babysitting because I needed a summer job and they were just available to babysit and they’re really fun. I enjoy hanging out with these kids.”

“I really love learning about people and different stories about individuals and I just think its so interesting that everyone has as intricate of a life as I do and I think it’s the most fascinating thing on planet earth,” Walsh said.

 Fun Fact: “My whole dads side of the family went to Ireland…We were biking around the Aran islands but it was pouring rain outside and we weren’t going to be able to bike it another day so we biked it anyway, it was still really cold and rainy so we were in this little pavilion thing and we were all just like huddled.”

“Journalism is a way to communicate to others what is happening in the world whether it be locally globally or even just personally,” Fann said. “I like to be able to share stories with others and make them more open minded with what’s happening in the world.”

Fun Fact: “My favorite color is purple. It’s my favorite color because it’s a bold color but it’s not too out there and it gives a sense of calmness but also a bit of royalty mixed in there.”

“Journalism is a window to the world,” Hu said. “You have to read your information for anything you want to do. For example, business or anything, you have to talk about it, be able to write about it, and journalism allows information to get spread and allows people to understand everything in this world.” 

Fun Fact: This is Emily’s fourth consecutive year attending the MIPA Summer Journalism Workshop.

“I just love taking pictures and just watching it come to life,” Hoffert said.

Fun Fact: This is Sara’s first year attending MIPA’s Summer Journalism Workshop.

“To me, journalism means the ability to adapt and solve problems working closely with a group or a team to produce a paper. [Also to] entertain and inform the people is kind of a way to learn and grow in every sense of the term: socially, linguistically, and critically,” Sears said.

Fun Fact: “I like the color purple, that’s for sure,” Sears said. “In elementary school I was kind of with everybody else on the boy colors and girl colors thing so I hated purple for a while because you know…cooties. It eventually grew on me, maybe Waluigi had an influence on that. It just kind of became my color and I wear it with pride.”

“[Journalism] taught me to become more of a leader and take more responsibility for things. It definitely gains your confidence more to see all the hard work that you’ve done,” Giacalone said. “For real estate, you have to get your name out there so I think Journalism could give you the confidence to do that and get yourself out there more.”

Fun Fact: “I plan on going to real estate for my future, it took me a while to think about it for a minute but I think that’s where my heart is set…I’ve always enjoyed looking at houses and seeing the price sales on houses and I also want to be rich when I’m older.”

“A lot of what I learned through being a [cheer] captain applies to what I’ve learned in journalism, like becoming braver and more outspoken with my opinions and ideas while always being open to other ideas and opinions. Journalism is the shared brain of all the news and opinions that we all have and it’s so important to tell those stories,” Sarsfield said.

Fun Fact: I’m the sideline varsity cheer captain at Troy High,” Sarsfield said. “I was chosen my junior year and I’m going into my senior year now and it was a great opportunity for me to showcase my leadership skills.”

“[Journalism] means making stuff for other people to see, having a good time and making a good product that people enjoy,” Houlett said.

Fun fact: “In middle school I made some award-winning short movies with a friend.”

“I’m pretty new to journalism but I kind of always valued it for its role as sort of a watchdog in our political system where if wrongdoing is uncovered it will be called out in our news outlets and I think that’s really good. It’s one of the great hallmarks of a free society,” Zajac said.

Fun Fact: “When I was a little kid I absolutely refused to participate in the swimming lessons that my parents signed me up for, then three years later I taught myself how to swim anyways.”

“Journalism to me is just finding a place with people that I really love, to learn a new skill and to really test my limits as a writer, a thinker and as a reader. That’s why I’m really excited for this upcoming year,” Kitchen said.

Fun Fact: “So this summer my family and I went on a cruise of Alaska and that was my 50th state! We are big into road trips so my mom plans these trips we’ve gone like out west, down south, up in the northeast, and we always try to do one meaningful thing in each state.”

“Journalism to me is providing a story to everybody…Providing them a way to showcase themselves or showcase a story to the rest of the population that are kind of there just to learn a little more about everything,” McNally said.

Fun fact: “I became an Eagle Scout when I was 15.”