Student Voices: Into a new world on a whim

I am not a writer.

I am completely enthralled by mathematics with a certain disdain for English class. What led me to apply for this program, I have no clue.

I want to blame it on my school’s poetry club and their kind support, but what led me to actually sit down and fill out an application eludes me. All I know is that my English teacher posted a link and I already had a letter of recommendation from her in my pocket. Abusing this piece of paper with some ink scattered hither-thither around the page, I applied for two camps; a University of Oregon business camp and the High School Journalism Institute course.

After the business camp, I entered the OSU campus with trepidation. Knowing that all of the other kids attending would be true writers at heart, I was prepared to have my writing beat down as the others progressed with ease. I ended up being fifty-percent correct.

The students at the HSJI were all writers, as I had expected. The thing that I wasn’t right about was being left behind. Journalism is writing, but writing is not journalism. My partner Chloe Lierhiemer and I, as well as the other students, went through countless edits with our mentors. Our mentor, Zane Sparling (the genius behind “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Bean”) demonstrated how simple, yet complex, journalism is.

For example, journalism is written in AP style and not MLA or Chicago style, which you may recognize from your typical English class. There is no Oxford Comma either, the comma used when listing things like an angular, blue, (that’s the comma), and boxy. You don’t appreciate this amazing comma until it’s gone.

Overall, this course was an amazing experience. From doing an introduction ropes course to dominating in spikeball with my teammate, Shani, it has been a blast. It may be frustrating to see your precious work picked over with changes needing to be made, but ultimately, the knowledge gained from this course is thorough and simple, like a well-written journalism article.

You don’t have to be a writer to learn from this course. You don’t need to have a desire to be a journalist to understand the passion and work that goes into these articles. All you have to be is a student with determination and a thirst for knowledge.

I hope that more people try and squeeze their way into this astonishingly awesome program.

–Chase McMullen, Yamhill-Carlton High School

This story was produced by a student reporter as part of the High School Journalism Institute, an annual collaboration among The Oregonian/OregonLive, Oregon State University and other media organizations. For more information or to support the program, go to oregonlive.com/hsji.