By Zulema Rodriguez
Any ordinary teenager would want to spend their summer vacation relaxing at home or going out with friends and family. Unlike most teenagers, this college now class decided to dedicate part of their summer by taking a journalism class for the summer. They learned the basics of journalistic writing, were exposed to newsroom visits, were able to speak with reporters, put together their own class website, and were able to conduct interviews and write up stories of their own.
Valerie Garafalo, 15, said this journalism class has positively impacted her because it has made her have “experiences as an intellectual journalist.”
When asked if she would pursue a career in journalism, Ms. Garafalo said “Sure, yes because you get to travel, meet new people and you don’t know who you’ll get to meet. There are always new stories to write about too.”
Ms. Garafalo said she has learned “a lot of useful, resourceful material” by taking this summer course. She then added that because of this course, she has learned the hard work journalist go through.
Ms. Garafalo describe this class as “hard” and said if she were to recommend this class to anyone, she would recommend it to someone who “likes hard work because it takes a lot of self efforts” and to someone who “just loves to write.”
Mary Ogunji, 16, said she enjoyed taking this class because she “met new people and had fun interviewing.”
“I feel it has bettered my writing,” said Ms. Ogunji.
Raphia Ngoutane, 16, said “the best part of taking this class was getting to learn something new, meet new people, and do something I usually wouldn’t do.”
“I usually don’t write this much,” said Ms. Ngoutane.
Overall Ms. Ogunji seems to sum up the experience of many students taking this college course as “It’s a new experience for us”.
The Bronx Beat 