When I was first given the assignment to report on a topic in Nassau County that I was passionate about, I was discouraged because I knew very little about the area. Instead of trying to "dig up" something in a foreign town, I thought about something that affected a large number of people including myself. Being a teen mother who grew up in Queens, I wondered how Long Island was addressing a national issue.
I began to search the Internet for programs that assisted teen mothers and I stumbled upon many websites for teen pregnancy prevention programs. Once I realized that the communities surrounding Hofstra University had a large rate of teen pregnancies, I hoped that there was something that my school was doing to help the growing youth population. The Reading/Writing Learning Clinic was a program I thought to be not only helpful, but essential, in improving the quality of life for the young women involved.It has been an extremely difficult road, from researching possible topics to contacting sources. Overall, the process has taught me not to give up and to never settle on one way of doing things.
Also, this project has taught me that preparation is essential when you are reporting. I learned that I get frustrated when things do not go as planned, but I can now say that being a reporter is knowing that a story may not always turn out the way I originally intended.After meeting with the teachers and the students at the Reading/Writing Learning Clinic, I was inspired by their dedication and hard work. Each student knows that the odds are against them to have a productive future, but they go to the program in order to defy the stigma that has been placed on them.
Overall, the project was difficult, required long hours,and frustrated me more than any other class assignment. However, getting a chance to report on something that I strongly believed in was worth the hard work. I was able to use all the tools I learned throughout the semester in one project, using all types of technology to tell a story. It was rewarding to have a final product that I know I worked hard to achieve.
