There’s nothing worse than moving, especially if it means changing cities, schools and friends.
Not too long ago, I had to make this drastic change. I’m originally from Redmond but moved to Kirkland mid-semester. At first, I was beyond furious; I didn’t want to leave my home, my school and my friends.
When I transferred to Lake Washington High School in late February, I convinced myself that I would hate it and my life would be miserable from that point on.
But much to my surprise, I actually ended up really liking my new home, school and friends. For Lake Washington, every student must complete a culminating project in order to graduate and my immediate thought was to intern at the Kirkland Reporter.
Ever since I was 11 years old I knew that I wanted to pursue a career in journalism and I knew that this would be the golden opportunity for me to get hands-on experience. Getting my project proposal approved was a cinch compared to actually getting an interview.
But believe me, it was worth it. I have enjoyed every moment working here and I have learned so much, it’s incredible.
One of the things I’ve learned is how to conduct an interview. For my first piece, I had to interview two people concerning the Moss Bay Cardboard Boat Regatta at this year’s Summerfest. I had no idea where to start.
But my editor Carrie Rodriguez and reporter Raechel Dawson told me that the basics for any interview are “who, what, where, when, why and how.” With that, I formed my questions for the interviews.
But forming questions wasn’t my only challenge. Being a rather shy person, I felt extremely anxious at the thought of talking to complete strangers and asking them a bunch of questions. Before my very first interview, I was ridden with such anxiety that I nearly felt sick.
Soon I realized that I would just be talking to another person, another human, and it wasn’t as terrifying as I made it out to be.
In addition to learning how to conduct interviews, I’ve also learned how to structure an article. To write an article, you have to start with a “hook” – something to grab the reader’s attention. Then, you go into a “nut graph.” A nut graph is the paragraph that tells what the story is about, so people know why to keep reading. After the nut graph, there’s the body. The body is the main core of the article, with all the facts, statistics and quotes. And of course, there’s the conclusion, which often ties back to the hook or relays a strong quotation from the main subject.
This is without a doubt a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I will be forever grateful to not only the Kirkland Reporter but to you, the readers, for supporting it.
Had I never moved to Kirkland I would not have had this life-changing experience.
Kirkland Reporter intern Maddi Miller is an incoming senior at Lake Washington High School.
