High school students from all over the United States and even Europe attend the national journalism and NSPA conference .
Nashville was a very loud place but also peaceful at the same time, considering it being my first time there I had a pretty great time. The people native to there were very welcoming and nice considering the single story I had about Nashville. Before I went I was worried about whether or not I would be about to fit in as a black Muslim girl. I was wondering if I should change how I speak? the way I act? It turns out I didn’t have to do any of that; I just had to go and stay the way I was and it was up to the people to choose whether or not they like me.
The students I roomed with came from Bronx River High School and they were so nice and welcoming. Most of the time I felt a bit left out because they are extroverted and I’m introverted around people I don’t know at all. Also because I was the only Muslim in that room so I was busy worrying about how these people would react when they saw me praying five times a day. It turns out they were actually intrigued and interested in my religion. They were also very respectful and would try to include me in all their activities.When someone would knock on the door they would tell me to fix my hijab, even when my hijab came off when I was asleep they would put it back on my head and that made me more and more comfortable. Thank you Jomira and Zoe:).
Something I did when we first arrived was go out to eat or roam the streets of Nash with my fellow new yorkers or stay in my room with the girls . That room was beautiful by the way. I attended the trade show .I enjoyed the trade show for a lot of reasons, for example the colleges talking about their school and how they explain journalism so passionately made me more and more interested . Most of the Universities were either too expensive or too far and I want to live close to home , But the trade show allowed me to broaden my horizons and make me see journalism through a different lens or point of view. This trip will impact me as a person because it was my first ever time in Nashville and the things I heard about it like it’s full of racist white people was in my eyes a single story but I wouldn’t really know because I was not there for very long. This trip also impacted my point of view on journalism because it took me away from an environment where nobody is really interested in journalism to an area where there were young enthusiastic people around my age really interested in journalism . To me the conference was very educational and it made me feel grown because they were like college classes. I would encourage other students to take advantage of trips like this because they build your character and prepare you for the real world.
