Two incredible, eye-opening weeks
August 4, 2018
It’s incredible how 2 weeks can change you. How the different people you meet can help you develop a broader perspective and deeper appreciation for the community around you. How you can accomplish things you never thought you could. How you can gain so much inspiration from the people you meet.
I joined the staff of my high school newspaper my sophomore year. I learned that I loved interviewing other people, getting to hear stories and opinions of the people around me, and I loved seeing parts of the community that I may not get to see otherwise. In my junior year, I began to think that I might want to be a journalist one day. In the Spring, I applied to a few journalism workshops. I didn’t expect to get into Mosaic, but somehow I did, and I couldn’t be more grateful. In my gut, this is the workshop that I wanted to be a part of the most.
I think the most eye-opening thing about Mosaic was it that it taught me how much diversity there is in my own city. I learned something valuable from every single one of my 16 classmates, who I now consider my family. We all came from different schools in the Bay Area—from large public schools, to private schools, to charter schools. Everyone brought their unique personalities, experiences and interests to Mosaic. Our classmate Fernando, for example, is a poet/rapper. He would read us poems about his thoughts and life experiences that were so moving and profound. Watching him perform was such an honor because I felt like I was witnessing greatness.
Mosaic gave me a deeper appreciation for the work of journalists. I normally don’t sit down and read a physical newspaper every morning, but that’s what we did at Mosaic: sit down together with a copy of the San Jose Mercury News while eating breakfast. I loved reading the Local section. One story was about a dog that went missing. The next day, the paper reported that the dog was found. I was amazed by how fast reporters must work to share news with us. Even just watching our editor Rob work, for example, it was mind blowing to see how quickly he needed to get interviews and write a story to inform the public.
I’m grateful that at Mosaic, we had so much freedom to choose what we wanted to write about. My editor Rob taught me on day one how important diversity is in a newsroom. Your identity and experiences shape the stories you care about, so you get better rounded stories when you have a diverse group of reporters.
My first story was about the people in the Bay Area who work with refugees. I was interested in writing about refugees because in my sophomore year, my history teacher did a unit about the Syrian Refugee Crisis and opened my eyes to the severity and complexity of this global issue. Speaking with the people who work with refugees on a daily basis and help them adjust to life here in the U.S. was incredibly inspiring. The first person I interviewed, Mindy Berkowitz from Jewish Family Services, taught me about leadership, compassion, kindness and giving with no strings attached. My heart was warmed by the stories they shared about interacting with refugees.
After I had finished writing my story, I attended an event hosted by Jewish Family Services on the refugee crisis. There, I had a chance to meet lawyers working with refugees to help them find stability in the U.S., and hear the stories of refugees. Someone I met at the event told me that by sharing these people’s stories, I’m helping create change. I can’t express how much that meant, especially because I found it difficult to contact so many people and write a good story under a deadline.
My next story was about how the Chinese-American community supports breast cancer patients, which resonated with me because my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer last year. For this story, I did my first ever interview in Chinese. I was honored to highlight the strength and compassion of this community.
Working on my stories for Mosaic made me a more efficient journalist because the deadlines were much tighter than what I’m used to for my school paper. While normally I would record interviews and transcribe them later, for most of my interviews at Mosaic I took faster and quicker notes because I wouldn’t have the time to transcribe them. Even though everything was more fast-paced than I was used to, I didn’t feel so overwhelmed because everyone in the newsroom supported each other and kept the environment lighthearted and fun.
Although all of us were working on interviews, writing our stories and doing edits, we always took the time to have lunch together and enjoy each others’ company.
Aside from helping me grow through the actual reporting, Mosaic also inspired us by introducing us to incredibly talented reporters in the field.
David Early, a former reporter for the Mercury News, told us about the PRIVILEGE of telling stories. He kept stressing that it’s a huge privilege for someone to share their story with you, and for you to share that with the world, and I completely agree. He had such a wise, joyful personality and told us that many times, the people he interviewed remembered him for the work that he did. I hope I can be like that one day: become a journalist who can not only touch my audience but the people I interview, and be memorable to them as well.
Tatiana Sanchez, an immigration reporter at the Mercury News, told us to be yourself and be really compassionate. Tatiana helped me a lot when I was working on my story about refugees, and I’m grateful for the people she introduced me to. She told us that as a Saturday reporter, she gets to see more of the city by writing stories not related to her beat, which I found really interesting.
Karen Crouse, a sports writer for the New York Times and the author of “Norwich,” told us to see all our subjects as human beings, regardless of social or celebrity status. She told us that the basis of journalism is to create common connection and to find a story people can resonate with. In the end, she gave us signed copies of her book.
Listening to all these reporters talk about their work made me want to go into journalism even more. To see the world with curiosity and compassion. To bring all these stories to light.
On our last day of Mosaic, we visited the Mercury News newsroom, where we had a chance to meet the editors and ask them questions. I was really inspired by one editor, who told us that an editor’s job is to help a reporter write the best story possible—not in the way the editor would write it, but in the way the reporter would. He told us that the best editing doesn’t always come after the story is written, but rather, in helping the reporter plan what interviews they are going to do and what they are going to cover. I’m definitely going to share this with my editors on our newspaper staff. I was also really interested to hear them talk about how they are looking for data journalists: people who can tell stories with both words and numbers. Hearing that made me want to learn more about data journalism right away.
Because of Mosaic, I see the city in a different way. Our director Joe took us around San Francisco and downtown San Jose, encouraging us to explore the diversity and culture that these communities have to offer. One afternoon, when most of us were finished with our stories, we walked through downtown SJ, and just talked to people—in a quilt museum, in a Latino art museum—and realized that if you just ask, people love to share more about themselves and what they do.
Mosaic gave me memories and friendships I won’t forget. I won’t forget my group, Team R.O.B., which consisted of Aaron, Benji, Richard, and me. I’ll cherish the time we spent together, encouraging each other and helping each other out as we worked on our stories. I’ll look back on the time Aaron, Richard, and I got lost in SF while we bought Rob a souvenir. I’ll remember the laughter we all shared when we presented Rob with a small metal license plate with his name on it. I’ll remember staying up with Richard until 3 a.m. as we worked on our stories to finish by deadline.
I couldn’t be more grateful that I am now part of this Mosaic family. That I now have incredible mentors who have inspired me to further pursue journalism. That I have 16 friends who I know will do amazing things, whether it’s in media or not.
