Gift of orientation

A second day is almost finish, and my fears about my internship are reducing every second. But at the same time, my anxiety is starting to grow.

There have been great ideas shared today. They will guide us in our careers. "Understand what you don’t know,” Mark Silverman (editor of The Tennessean in Nashville) said. “I have never been ready for a job,” he also said.

There is a strong message we should keep in mind: One of the gifts of journalism is the learning experience. There is no preparation or training for a story because every story is unique, every source has his own way of seeing the world, his own way of telling the story that makes the person even more interesting.

Learning about the First Amendment from John Seigenthaler was a precious moment. This is information we -- not only reporters but the public in general -- should know. It is sad that we hardly studied it school. To best use our five rights from the First Amendment, we need to also understand how the political system works in America.

Also today, learning about multimedia was a great experience. Multimedia is becoming crucial for online news. Some of us don’t have much background in multimedia, but it is necessary because it will open many doors for future jobs.

And even learning from everyone’s experiences is a gift that this orientation is providing.

I had a great day.

-- Gabriela Gonzalez, Spring Scholar, Ventura County (Calif.) Star and California State University-Northridge