During my final journalism conference in my high school career, I had the opportunity to interact with more people through opportunities that were offered to me for my work on The Feather.

Alongside my adviser Greg Stobbe, eight other students and I traveled down to San Diego, CA, to attend the National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA) and Journalism Education Association (JEA) national high school journalism conference, April 9-13.

Though this trip included a lot of fun tourist activities, I was also challenged journalistically to network and interact with big-names in the NSPA/JEA world.

Previous to attending the trip, Stobbe and I were approached to teach a class at the conference. As an online publication, we challenged new publications to create efficient staffs through “Thriving in Cyberspace.”

On top of that, Senior Editor Viviana Hinojosa and I were invited to take part in a Conversation with Journalists who Code with Geoff McGhee during a live streaming event, April 11. This opportunity was awarded to us through our previous work and awards, giving us the opportunity to discuss data visualization with a professional and other media students.

The same day, we were also invited to attend a lunch with the JEA President Mark Newton and 10 other students in a first-time event, April 11. Though we applied for this experience, Viviana and I were chosen among many students to participate.

Through these three opportunities, the conference proved to challenge Viviana and me to continue networking and using my resources to improve The Feather for future years to come.

Geoff McGhee was especially helpful in aiding us with ideas and links to encourage student journalists to incorporate date visualization. During his career, McGhee worked at various publications including The New York Times, Le Monde in France and ABCNews.com.

McGhee inspired us to begin a “senior project” to publish on The Feather, including an interactive map showcasing where each student in the class of 2014 is attending college. McGhee was also our resource for the links to begin our chapter.

These opportunities were not only an awesome resource for our staff, but they were an encouragement and affirmation to Viviana and I as we reflect on the hours of work we placed into The Feather. All the hard work we’ve done has been rewarded and recognized by professionals all around the nation.

As both Viviana and I are moving into the journalism field, this final conference was a major encouragement and relief for our futures. This comfort will stay with us as Viviana moves into New York University and I into Arizona State’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism.

This author can be reached via Twitter: @TyninFries. Follow The Feather via Twitter: @thefeather.

For more opinions, read the April 25 article, EDITORIAL: Intentional actions through final days.