Since November 2024, my eyes have been set on attending the 2025 Camp Cronkite to expand my journalism skills and see if reporting is a real dream for me. When applications opened in January, I was among the first to apply. Four long, dreadful months went by, waiting to hear back, and on May 1st, 2025, I opened the email during the 3rd period. It read, “Dear Sarah, Congratulations! You have been selected for Camp Cronkite 2025 at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. You have been selected for a 100% scholarship.”
Out of 600 applicants, only 60 students arrived at the dining hall on June 15th. The opening ceremony was complete with an introduction of all the students at Cronkite who volunteered for the camp and the camp’s director, Yadi Arellano. Students would then get their shirt, lanyard with the name tag, and QR code for their class schedules, along with their table tag.
From there, students were assigned rooms, which they shared with one other person. The campers got settled into their respective rooms and acquainted with the people they would soon make life-changing memories with.
As Monday started, I kicked off the day with a News Analysis class with Natasha Smith. I won’t bore you with all the details, but in this class, the students in attendance learned about different types of bias and how to analyze the various uses of bias in news and social media. Then, going on to Audio with Regina Revazona, students got to record their own news clip with scripts and private recording rooms.
After lunch, I had Photography with Arianna Grainey, where she gave us a prompt each day to hone our skills. The first day, students were advised to take pictures of water, and given the fact we live in a desert, students had to get creative. Most students took photos of the only water in sight, a water fountain. We would then go on to the last class of the day, our elective.
Each day, students would head to a different set of classes; the only class that each student went to every day was Photography. Some of the other classes I attended were Intro to Photoshop, Podcast Strategy, Copyediting, Writing, and Producing.
This experience at Camp Cronkite gave students a taste of what real journalism students get to experience and study every day. I can’t speak for all 60 of the applicants, but I can say that my decision to pursue journalism after high school was not changed. In fact, it was just solidified. My journey with journalism has been 3 years long, but it’s just getting started.
