High school students involved in their school’s student media, including school newspapers and yearbooks, are invited to participate. This year the LSJI took place from June 10 to June 15. While taking part in the LSJI, I had the chance to meet many interesting people my age from all across the U.S. Some participants came from as far away as New York City!
The people leading the program were very interesting and professional in their field. Victoria and Ben LaPoe, both teachers at the Manship School, taught us so much during the five days. They were engaged and eager to teach. The counselors, whom we campers spent much time with, were all LSU students involved in the student media and the Manship School. This includes the newspaper The Daily Reveille, TigerTV, KLSU radio station, the Gumbo yearbook, and the Legend magazine.
Our student counselors treated us to a tour of LSU’s beautiful campus. There were many sights to see, such as the bell tower, the parade grounds, and the old Greek-style outdoor theater. The campus was absolutely breathtaking at night. On another note, the food at LSU is some of the best. One of my favorite things was eating at the Five dining hall every day.
One day was spent attending a professional journalism panel at the Manship School. Men and women involved in journalism both inside and outside of LSU and in Baton Rouge gave us campers many useful tips about working in the world of journalism. Some important tips were don’t go in to it for the pay and that you must love what you do! It was very helpful to be able to talk to those who work in the journalism field and who have expertise to offer.
Aside from all of the great people I met and the sights that I saw, I was able to learn a lot about the field of journalism during my stay. I chose print journalism over broadcast when being divided into two separate concentrations. Everyone at the LSJI took part in a mock press conference after choosing print or broadcast. During this press conference we interviewed someone based on which subject we chose.
I chose history and interviewed Dr. Jinx Broussard, the first African American graduate from the Manship School of Mass Communication. She currently owns her own PR firm and is a professor at the Manship School. My interview was Dr. Broussard was both enlightening and very interesting. She had a lot to say and I wanted to listen.
After conducting interviews, we all wrote our own articles using the information we had collected. Ben LaPoe, the print teacher, helped all of us perfect our articles and make them the best they could be.
The LSJI campers were also given the great opportunity to tour the Advocate’s printing center and WBRZ television station in Baton Rouge. It was very exciting to see how the Advocate newspaper was printed and to meet professional weathermen and news anchors at WBRZ. The LSJI group was even shown on TV during a live noon broadcast!
After five days of being totally immersed in the world of journalism at LSU, it was time to return home. But I will never forget all of the things I learned and all of the interesting people I met at the LSJI. Hopefully I will be able to attend again next summer! Please contact me if you are interested in participating in the LSJI and are involved in student media at your high school.
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