This camp and experience was incredible. Coming in with no prior journalism education, I have learned so much in many different fields.

After finding out I was accepted into the program, I was beyond excited. I was getting to  kind of experience college life and learn the basics in all sorts of multimedia fields. To top it all off, I was getting to see lots of behind-the-scenes in so many different aspects of Pittsburgh. With the first day of camp fast approaching, the butterflies in my stomach kept growing. Things like living with a stranger and public showers started to terrify me. Shutting my suitcase Monday morning, I was just throwing myself into a completely new world.

Day one was nervously incredible. Getting to know my roommate, Emily, was a little terrifying. I am not a super social person, so living with a complete stranger was a new challenge on top of the camp. Luckily, we had common interests and got along really well.

From a learning perspective, we were thrown into it right away. I appreciated learning the basics, since I was walking into this without any experience. Taking the Duquesne Incline to take pictures was great. I am not one to take many, but I was able to really enjoy taking them. Turns out I am pretty good at it too.

Tuesday was even better than Monday. Touring PPG Paints was like a dream come true, as cheesy as that sounds. Seeing the behind the scenes was incredible, but hearing what it was like to work for the Penguins was just as eye-opening. I never knew how much went into the job, even when it is the offseason. 

Day three, the longest day of the camp. Watching the twelve o’clock news at KDKA was so neat. There were so many aspects that goes into a news taping that I had never considered. Even something as simple as the background in the newsroom is made up of televisions that have been turned on their side. The cameras are robots controlled by someone in a booth.

The snack walk was deliciously disappointing. It was so cool to go see all of the different candies and have a genuine conversation with two workers at Katie’s Kandy. At our next stop, Prantl’s Bakery, I was a little disappointed. I bought an Oreo cake cup and a red velvet cake cup. The velvet tasted frozen and thawed, but the Oreo redeemed my happiness. The atmosphere also left me disheartened. The shop was small and not super well lit. Also there were only a few workers even at the store, with most working in the back.

The Pirate game was a whole new thing. The tour had a great view, but it was only one stop. It felt like we were cheated out of a more interesting tour.

Despite the extreme heat, the game was not too bad. Through playing softball since elementary school, baseball games have become more and more fun to watch. Most importantly, the food was delicious. The freeze pop was probably the highlight of the night. The orange was refreshing and helped beat the heat.

I cannot believe this past four days have flown by so quickly. Doing this camp has left me with many things to think about in the next few years. So many things I had already made up in my mind have changed and left me confused. Most importantly, the skills that I learned from so many different media aspects will help me in high school journalism and beyond.