Pitts reminisces on his summer scholastic press experience

This past summer, I attended the National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA) summer journalism workshop in Minneapolis, Minnesota at the University of Minnesota campus, July 24-26, 2015.

I wasn’t sure what I was more nervous about, flying halfway across the country by myself for the first time or the challenging tasks I had ahead of me. Either way, I was excited to attend a summer workshop and improve as a journalist.

I had everything planned out for my trip. My flight was out of LAX to Denver International Airport and finally arriving at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport where I met the NSPA/ACP associate director Sarah Cavanah. We left the airport and Sarah showed me around the beautiful city of Minneapolis. Even though we were having an amazing time I knew that the next day would be all business.

Walking into the first conference of the day, I wasn’t sure what to expect. There were a lot less people there than I thought there would be. There were probably between 50 to 60 journalism students in the room. I then found out that I wasn’t just the only person from California, I was the only person from the west coast.

When I arrived back in California I took all of the things I learned from the summer workshop and applied them to what I know now. Overall, I’m really pleased that I went to the NSPA Summer Workshop. I learned so much about journalism and I’m hoping to show my peers all that I discovered in Minnesota.. — Devin Pitts, ’18

The first day was a basic training day where we learned how to format an article, ask open ended questions and how to improve articles to make them more interesting. I found out that we would be covering The Minneapolis Aquatennial, an annual festival that happens in downtown Minneapolis every year in the third week of July. Concluding the Aquatennial was The Target Firework Show which is considered one of the top five firework shows in the U.S. and attracts thousands of people from the mid-west.

The final day at the workshop was the presentation day. Everyone showcased what they had been working on over the weekend during the Aquatennial. As the final conference concluded people said their goodbyes and returned home. I would head home the next day due to my flight not leaving until Monday morning.

I woke up at 6 a.m. and prepared to leave for the airport and return home to Fresno. Sarah picked me up at my dorm and we headed off to The Minneapolis-Saint Paul airport. I stepped out of the car and thanked Sarah for everything she did for me on the trip.

When I arrived back in California I took all of the things I learned from the summer workshop and applied them to what I know now. Overall, I’m really pleased that I went to the NSPA Summer Workshop. I learned so much about journalism and I’m hoping to show my peers all that I discovered in Minnesota.

For more columns, read the Sept. 23 article, COLUMN: Junior returns from Calvin Crest with new perspective.

This writer can be reached via Twitter: @devin_pitts1735 and via email: Devin Pitts.