Hello, there! Today was another great day at the Washington Journalism and Media Conference. This morning, I got to experience my first breakfast at Southside Dining Hall. I know this is not a food blog, but I have to say my meal was delicious! A soft blueberry muffin and a sweet yogurt bowl really topped off the meal.
Our attire was casual today, so I was able to wear my WJMC t-shirt, shorts, and tennis shoes. This was convenient because we did a lot of walking today exploring our nation’s capital. First, we visited the Newseum. My experience there was interactive and enjoyable. There was so much to do there; we spent about five hours at the Newseum, and I still did not see every last thing the museum has to offer. Needless to say, we saw many neat exhibits. I have tried my best to preview a few of them through the photos below:
After the Newseum, we headed to Mason Arlington to hear from Kevin McCarthy, a film critic for Fox 5 DC and CBS Radio. I was very inspired by Mr. McCarthy’s success in turning his love for film into a career. McCarthy said during his speech, “Essentially, the passion of my life . . . has been movies.” One valuable lesson I learned from his speech was I should always ask questions even when I believe the answer may be “no” because the answer may in fact be “yes.” In other words, there is no way to know what opportunities are out there for me unless I seek them first. I also learned about working backwards while interviewing someone, so both the interviewer and interviewee are able to discuss their own topics of interest. Overall, McCarthy’s speech was very useful to me in understanding networking and interviewing processes.
Our departure from Mason Arlington came before 5:30 p.m. At that time, we were shuttled to dinner at Crystal City Sports Pub. I was once again very impressed with accommodations and logistics (Thank you, WJMC Advance Team!). After dinner, all National Youth Correspondents were treated to a White House photo opportunity and a Twilight Monument Tour. I had never seen the Korean War Memorial or any of the monuments or memorials by night; thus, this was a very special experience for me. Soon, though, it was time for our day in Washington to come to an end. We returned to the GMU Fairfax campus via bus this evening, and now it is time to get some rest. There are still four incredible days left of WJMC!
Experience WJMC 