Let’s do some New York Times Student Journalism Institute math.
We’ll begin by allotting about six hours for sleep (and, let’s face it, that’s generous), a half-hour for wakeup and makeup, and about an hour for breakfast and traveling to the newsroom.
That’s eight hours away from the Institute newsroom a day.
Those eight hours away equal 16-hour workdays. Multiply that by 10 jam-packed days, and everyone at this Institute has spent roughly 160 hours working together. And we still have one night left.
We’ve seen each other stressed, excited, sleep-deprived and nervous. And, admit it, we’re going to miss one another.
So what do 10 days spent with 23 talented student journalists and 18 staff members from The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Lakeland Ledger and the University of Arizona teach you?
The following list comes from e-mail messages and conversations:
1. I learned the most by pushing myself out of my comfort zone and trying other things that are related to journalism. Going to Mexico and learning about the border culture has been an amazing experience.
Page designs should be date-able — smart and pretty, that is.
— Marissa Lang
2. Workout routines are near impossible to keep if you’re working long hours, opening the newsroom and enjoying the “occasional overindulgence of alcohol.”
— Diego Ribadeneira
3. I learned, again, how much I love working with really talented people — teaching such incredibly smart and motivated students and learning from peers at The Times.
— Lenore Devore
4. I learned a lot about video editing and time management and stories/projects falling through and just having to deal with it.
— Sara Martinez
5. I learned a great deal about working under pressure in a different country. Most of my energy was placed on a photographic essay about the U.S.-Mexico border. Part of it was photographed in Mexico, a country I was unfamiliar with, and in a border town that is oftentimes dangerous for Americans. In this assignment I was able to use all my previous experience from school, internships and other past assignments to work safely and effectively in Nogales, Mexico. Moreover, the sound advice Jose R. Lopez, a staff photo editor with The New York Times, gave me was invaluable. After I showed him my take each night, Mr. Lopez suggested different approaches and angles to my essay, which ultimately made it more dynamic and cohesive.
— Diego James Robles
6. I’ve learned that even the most ample buffet spreads can get boring if no new fare is offered. I’ve learned that everything is hilarious after being awake and working for 16+ hours. I’ve learned that journalists are tough as nails and I’d be damn proud to be half as good as any of the ones here.
— Margaret Teich
7. I learned that I can spread a new appreciation of Lady Gaga throughout the newsroom.
— Amanda Portillo
8. I learned that I could survive a 16-hour day, 10 times over.
I learned I could be crazy goofy with “V” and Jen at the copy desk right around midnight.
— CeCe Perry
9. I’ve learned to make sure to get names for photo captions, to never assume a writer got it.
— Daniel Woolfolk
10. With the help of the mentors, I learned how to tackle a complex legal story and compact it into 900 words. The mentors here are some of the best teachers in journalism, and I’m ecstatic that I had the chance to work with them for the past 10 days.
— Mando Montaño
11. Well, John taught me to … focus!
— Salvador Rodriguez
12. I’ve learned that sugar and sleeplessness is a dangerous combination.
I’ve learned to sign out of my Facebook before leaving the newsroom (or, rather, I should have learned to sign out of my Facebook before leaving the newsroom).
— Laurie Valerio
13. Through the Institute I have learned how the best in the business operate and how hard you must work to publish the best product possible. The help that each of the mentors provided to all of us has been truly invaluable. Thank you to all of them.
I have also learned that Troy Griggs and I are hipster posers and that hipster girls really love The New York Times, that a conversation during a Sonoran Hot Dog dinner can go terribly awry, that Daniel Woolfolk is a very, uh, free roommate, that Mando Montaño is terribly gullible (or caring), and that I have met some of the coolest people I have ever met here.
— Stephen Ceaser
14. Aside from an album full of Facebook photos and some trial-size bottles of Crabtree & Evelyn lotion from my Hilton Hotel room, I will take away two “mantras” I learned at the Institute that I think can be applied to aspects of life even outside the newsroom: “Never make assumptions,” and “Is it date-able?”
While copy-editing, don’t make assumptions about what you think you know, and instead always double-check with the reporter. And when designing pages, make sure they are smart and attractive, like every worthwhile date should be.
— Veronica M. Cruz
15. I’ve learned that the best strategy is to put a whole bunch of the brightest people around in a room, and then claim credit for all the good things they do.
I’ve learned what good work people can do under ridiculous pressure.
And I’ve learned 11 days goes way too fast.
— Don Hecker, director of the Institute
16. Cat Cards don’t work everywhere.
— Elvia Malagon
17. I’ve learned that there are two kinds of people in Tucson: The ones who do not give you one call back, even if you call them 10 times. And then there are the ones who will go on and on about what you aren’t writing about.
— Cindy Von Quednow
18. I learned how to write a legitimate blog.
— Matt Lewis
19. I learned how to really, really, really pursue a source.
— Regina Garcia Cano
20. And I’ve learned that sometimes all you need to make it through a hectic news-filled day is a good laugh.
— Jamie Klein
