Day One:
Day one at hssji was a great experience. I am already learning more about interviewing skills, editing and documenting. Warming up to the other students and making new friends was not a problem and it is easy to relate due to our love for journalism. The first interview we had to partake in was somewhat of a challenge because we aren’t really prepared in asking questions and relating subjects, but I’m sure we will learn more as the days go by. Meeting the reporter from Newsday was also a great experience. He taught us about his job as a reporter and the contents and effort portrayed in his day at work. I hope to learn so much more and truly get an idea of what it takes to go into the journalism and broadcasting industry.
Day Two:
I learned so much the second day at Hofstra. We started out by reviewing our interviews from yesterday and getting pointers on how to make the video better. I clearly need to work on finding better lighting for my interview with Charlie. We also learned the importance of planning out questions for a great interview. After our lunch break, we came back and listened to John McNally talk about issues on Long Island. I can’t say I’ve leaned so much in just 45 minutes. He taught us about schools needing diversity, districts in need of lower taxes and population increases on the island. After we took notes on McNally’s presentation, we wrote our first real article about how we can helpLong Island. We mainly focused on the education system which was a common interest of all the students in the program.
Day Three:
The third day at Hofstra was super helpful for researching our main project. First thing we did was research information about our schools for our upcoming project on property tax caps. We also went into the Hofstra library to learn about various research websites. We were givin folders with a library map, Lexisnexis information for research and how to talk to librarians about help with projects. After lunch we were able to meet Doug to create our own websites. Through Google, we made these sites in order to attach resumes, share our journalism work and create a personal profile for future jobs or interests. Quickly after website building, we came back into our room to talk to John Hildebrand (senior education writer at Newsday) about property tax cap issues all around Long Island. He gave us many statistics about our school districts and the state aid tax cuts put upon them. We learned so much info about tax issues that I will be comfortable asking superintendents and my principal in the future. I am also thinking about attending a Board of Education meeting just so I can obtain valed notes about the issue at hand.
Day Four:
I really enjoyed day four at Hofstra. We began by talking about contacting our interviewees. I decided that I am going to call Maggie Boba (Vice President of the Board of Education) and Dr. Bennardo (School Principal.) At 11, we had a meeting with Susan Murphy (Assistant dean of broadcast journalism at Hofstra.) This was by far my favorite meeting yet. She gave us multiple tips and tricks for interviewing people both in print and broadcast journalism. She also taught us speaking/voice exercises where we (somewhat embarrassingly) had to count down from three to correct and find a professional/friendly tone. The most important thing she taught us were the correct questions to ask your subject. We learned about open-ended questions and conversation closures. I used these tips to create a question layout for my upcoming interviews. After lunch we decided to call and make appointments for the interviews. I called my school to try and get in touch with the principal but he was not in. After this, my friends and I decided to try some “mock interviews” for practice. We had a lot of fun and I can definitely say that I am more confident.
Day Five:
The weekend gave me lots of time to think about my final article. Though my principal is not contacting me back yet, I planned most of my article and made a lot of headway with things. We started day five out by meeting with Mario Gonzales again. He talked to us about his press trip to Yankee stadium to capture Jeter’s 3000th hit! He then showed us the video him and his editors at Newsday put together. We then went up to a different computer lab to get an intro into Final Cut Pro. Mario showed us the basics and it looks like a very interesting and helpful program. After lunch we went over our first articles. The editing by professor Goodman taught me a lot about the importance of work quality. I learned that you must ALWAYS cite where you got your article’s information. After this, I got in touch with Fred Gordan, a board member on Long Island who gave me his strong feeling about the property tax cap. Since he approves of it, I was able to get a great viewpoint for my upcoming article. I have a great few paragraphs written out for my article now and I am excited to keep working on it.
Day Six:
On the sixth day I did not actually come to Hofstra. Instead, I booked two interviews and did them at home. First I interviewed Inigo Fernandex, a foreign exchange student from Spain for my personal profile. He told me about his trip to America and how different it is from home. I got a lot of info for my article.
Day Seven:
On day seven we mainly focused on working on our articles. First, Doug came in to tell us about our websites and helped us organize them and fill out information. After that, we focused on finishing our articles and getting them corrected. I finished both of mine and just need to get them edited.
Day Eight:
This morning started out kind of slow. We just worked on finishing our articles and took some pictures for the online newspaper. Lunch was probably the best part of today though because we did some planking. After lunch, we finalized our articles and Mr. Goodman corrected them. This class flew by so quickly, I can’t believe it’s almost over. I’m excited to visit News 12 tomorrow because we will truly get a taste of broadcast journalism. I’m also excited to see the Hssji newspaper all finished.
My name is Danielle Yurkew and I am 16 years old. I am going into junior year at Harborfields High School in Greenlawn, NY this upcoming fall. Creative writing and learning about journalism is my passion. Not only do I love writing, but I am also an actor. I have enjoyed frequent trips to Manhattan for auditions and filming. I plan on combining my interests in journalism and acting. When I am at home, I run on the varsity track team and hang out with my friends. My friends and I partake in cancer fundraising in honor of my brother who passed away due to cancer in 2006. We take pride in our fundraising and hope to make a change for pediatric cancer patients. 