Contact: Jenni Brockman
Telephone: 804-443-3357 (w); 804-443-2703 (h)
Fax: 804-443-6781
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
St. Margaret's Seniors Present Independent Study Projects
Twenty two St. Margaret's seniors participated in an independent study project (called ISP) during the school's minimester program, February 22 - March 5. This week, seniors are giving presentations on their ISP's hoping to inspire juniors to do likewise next year.
"Independent studies allow students to explore careers that sound inviting. Senior participants are given an opportunity to dip their feet in a career or field of study rather than plunge into one without prior experience," says 1999 SMS minimester coordinator Mollie H. Conklin, of Warsaw. "A student's project is limited only by her imagination and interest."
Whether a student's interest is affirmed or challenged, seniors find the ISP an invaluable tool for evaluating where they're headed, before they get to college. This year's ISP sites included The Nature Conservancy, a nonprofit environmental organization; Innovative Systems, a computer technology firm; and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, based in Richmond, to name three.
St. Margaret's 1998/99 senior class president Yaisha Harding spent two weeks this winter working as an editorial intern for Washington City Paper, a free, alternative news weekly with a circulation of 94,000 in the Washington DC area.
Seniors choose to do either an oral presentation or written report to summarize their experience. Harding, an aspiring writer, chose to hand in a paper as her final report. Harding's final paper featured a cover story, Diary of an Intern: A Glimpse at the Life of a Journalist Through the Peculiar Lens of an Intern, which mimicked the City Paper's format and revealed details of her two-week internship.
"On my first day, I was happy and optimistic. I was going into uncharted territory and I liked it," recalls Harding. After stepping off the subway at the U Street-Cardozo station, Harding was surprised to find herself immersed in the urban chic of DC's Adams Morgan district. Harding, a DC native, had been to Adams Morgan before but this time was different, she was alone.
On day two, Harding and City Paper's Associate Editor Elissa Silverman attended a press conference where DC delegate Eleanor Holmes-Norton announced a bill being introduced to The U.S. House of Representatives. The new bill, particularly relevant to Harding, if approved, would allow DC residents to be eligible for in-state college tuition in all fifty states. "I am in the middle of the college application process and the big question is not 'where' but 'how'-how am I going to pay for college?," says Harding. DC residents do not have the luxury of school selection that students living in states like California, North Carolina, and Virginia have; this bill would attempt to bridge that gap.
"I now know that Congress is busy coming up with these answers," acknowledges Harding. "My ISP opened my eyes to the behind-the-scenes efforts of a newspaper. As consumers, we never think about the 'birth' or 'conception' of a story. We pick it up, read it, and throw it away. Everyday, newspaper staffs like City Paper's work hard to bring this kind of news forward."
Harding shadowed staff editors throughout the two-weeks and learned three grunt-work essentials associated with all newspapers: first, a writer must find his muse, his inspiration. "A writer must find a story and decide on an angle for the story line. Writers are thinking all they time, they don't stop," comments Harding. Second, is the art of investigating. Harding explains, "Journalists call it 'grunt work' because it's often long and tedious and sometimes has no end result." Last, is the importance of press conferences. Press conferences allow journalists to hear words "straight from the horse's mouth." "The facts obtained from press conferences are considered bond in the journalism world," writes Harding.
Harding agrees that her ISP opened her eyes to the world of journalism. "I don't know if I will pursue journalism as a career, but I do plan to live my dream of becoming a writer even if I have to starve in the process," says Harding.
ISP's, successful or not, give students an opportunity to "test drive" a career or field of study before committing to it; this year's senior participants enjoyed an opportunity to explore 'the real world' and discover that it really isn't anything like that show on MTV, and that will only help them.