(I was having problems on my laptop for the last few days trying to figure this out, so I just decided to do this on my phone.)
I arrived at WJMC on Sunday afternoon and was ready for an amazing week. I had already talked to people who we’re going, and I was really excited to meet them after months of talking to them every day. When I saw them for the first time in one of our dorms, I was greeted with hugs from all of them, and I knew I was going to be okay, I was a little nervous before. After meeting them, we all had to go downstairs and do the campus tour, which we obviously did all together.
We had the opening speaker at dinner, Tina Rosenberg, who made a great speech introducing us to different forms of journalism and what we can do with it. It was a great speech, and the food was good. After dinner, we had our first color group meeting, where I got to meet some more people that I would be spending most of my time with over the week.
On Monday morning, we got to listen to a speech from Hoda Kotb, where she talked about her career in journalism and her struggles in the beginning. A few things she said that I found very interesting; “You only need one person to believe in you.” Also, I particulary liked, “If you survive any bad thing in your life and if you are still standing at the end, you get four words: You Can’t Scare Me.”
After that, we took the bus ride to the Newseum in Washington DC, which has been one of my favorite parts of the trip so far. The exhibit from the 9/11 attacks was moving to me, and there are a few pictures from that on my twitter page. I also got to see a piece of the Berlin Wall, and other artifacts from other huge events in history. One part of the Berlin Wall that I found interesting was that on the West Side of the wall, there was graffiti on it and on the East Side there was no marks on the wall at all. Just a thing I found interesting, makes you think.
When you’re in DC, you have to see the monuments. We did that last night, and I got to see the Washington and Lincoln Monuments, as well as the World War II memorial site. That was very cool to see.
When we got back to the dorms, my group of friends and I decided to order a pizza. It got there and we all ate it together, and that has been by far the best part of the week so far. Fifteen people from all over the country talking and enjoying eachother’s company over a pizza. That made me realize that Friday will be a tough day for all of us. We’ve made some new friends along the way as well.
We’re currently on our way to the National Press Club, where we will hear some speeches by some political journalists, with the highlight being Brian Lamb. I can’t wait to see what today and the rest of the days here in Washington hold!
-Aidan
AJ Hoops 