A meaningful orientation

I've been to a lot of workshops and conferences throughout the years, and they all have the same criteria: hand out some pencils, talk about plagiarism and putting together your resume, etc., and you end by collecting as many business cards as possible. So when I was told I was going to be at the Freedom Forum, I thought, "OK, same situation -- I'll be bored out of my mind and I’ll leave with a lot of pamphlets I'll never read and information I already know."


A bench in the Newseum's Front Pages gallery, a gift from John and Loie Quinn, is dedicated to all Chips Quinn Scholars. (Photo by Xavier Mascarenas, Summer 2008)

But the Chips Quinn orientation was different. I see myself using some tools, such as "the first five graphs" and "pencil-checking," when I get to the News-Press in Fort Myers, Fla. Many of the mentors and advisers have given me good advice, like establishing goals for myself and discussing them with my editor. Also, the Chips Quinn Scholars program has provided me with an extended family. It’s a family that seems to want me to succeed in this field and their genuine help is encouraging.