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Two
of my students, Kimberly and Brandy, have an intense interest in
journalism and media. They have told me about their desire to
pursue communication careers and have dreamed of the places they
might go in the future as budding journalists. However, both
students have found in hard to pursue their passion at their
current high school. There is no school newspaper, very few
media related courses, and a limited arts budget. So when I came
across the application for NYU journalism camp this summer, I
was elated! I knew that the program was very competitive and it
might be a shot in the dark for my talented albeit inexperienced
students, but I was convinced they had to apply.
When I found out
about the program, the application was due within three days, so
time was of the essence. I told the girls about the opportunity
and both were excited, but worried about the deadline. I told
them I would write their recommendations and stay late to work
on the applications because I believed this would be the
opportunity of a life time. For the next two days we sweated it
out, side by side, preparing great applications. When I mailed
them off, we were all confident that great pieces of work had
been produced, but all of us were nervous about the results. Two
months later, Kimberly busted into my office to let me know that
she had been accepted to the fully-funded J camp! I was totally
blown away and equally excited, but my mind quickly went to
Brandy. When I talked to her later in the day, she said she
hadn’t checked her mail, so we were both unsure about her
status. That evening I received a call that Brandy was also
accepted into the program!
The hard work had
paid off and the girls were now one step closer to their dream.
I was then reminded of why I work the late nights, make the
phone calls, and hunt down kids in class. Stories like this one
make it all worth it.
-- 2006 Minnesota AmeriCorps Member |
