I remember the first class we started making press passes, and it doesn’t seem like that much time has passed but so much has changed since then. Learning the ins and outs of journalism was more of a journey than a skill. I remember walking around the school interviewing people for the first time and it seemed so awkward but every time I did it, it got a little bit easier and less awkward for me to do.
Learning about the Watergate Scandal and what those journalists went through changed my previous concept of investigative journalism. Getting to tour the PBS broadcast center in Durham was such an enjoyable experience that came with cool insights I wouldn’t have seen otherwise. I learned that for every second of media we watch, hours go into making the content from producing to editing. It was interesting to learn that the U.S. military used to pay a lot of money to have ads run on stations and why they don’t really do it anymore.
My advice to underclassmen for this class is to learn something and enjoy what you write about. When I was interested in what I was writing about it was way more enjoyable and I was less distracted. I also should mention to choose the partner you do activities with carefully because at the beginning of the year I worked with someone that didn’t exactly pull their weight and I ended up doing everything.
I want to thank Mr. O’Loughlin for making this class enjoyable and fun for everyone. Many other classes this year I was stressed in, but Mr. O’s class was always fun and enjoyable and I walked away learning about a topic I wasn’t much interested in when this class started.
