Alisa Uchaikina says journalism fellowship gave her voice and asks for expansion
Alisa Uchaikina, a senior at Kingsborough Early College, says her school lacks a journalism club but a fellowship let her write about topics she cares about and find her voice. She asks DOE to support journalism education in all schools.
This can and should be part of the portrait of the graduate.
Hello, my name is Alisa Ochaikina.
I'm a senior at Kingsborough Early College Secondary School, and I'm a student from Brooklyn, New York.
My school doesn't have a dedicated journalist club, but one of the opportunities my school gave me was the Fellowship for the Future of Journalists.
I first applied to the program during my sophomore year, and this is actually one of the reasons I'm here today.
The program gave me the opportunity to explore journalism from different angles and perspectives, as well as to meet a lot of amazing journalists and learn from their experience.
Our mentors don't teach us how to follow templates or put strong limitations on our creativity and our words, which what school usually does.
Instead, we have the freedom to write about things that generally interest us and find our own voice.
One of the articles I wrote this year is called How the Morning Shapes the Mind.
In this article, I talk about the importance of reducing our use of phones, especially during the first 30 minutes after waking up.
It can give your brain a calmer start to the day.
That way you can feel more present, which is important for students while taking regents.
And if it wasn't for journalists, I might have never thought about something like this or decided to experiment with it in my own life.
Journalists help me notice things I might normally overlook and sell interesting stories about things that I can seem ordinary.
It gives me freedom to explore what I genuinely care about, find people who share those interests, and develop my own voice.
I'm very grateful for everything this program has given me, which is why it's very sad to know that so many students don't have the same opportunity.
I believe every student
should have the chance to write, learn from professionals, and have their voice heard.
Journalism teaches us critical thinking by asking questions and looking at different perspectives.
And it teaches effective communications by turning our ideas into stories that others can understand and connect with.
I'm just asking to make sure that DOE supports journalism education and opportunities like Fellowship for the Future of Journalism in all NYC public schools, or at least most of them.
So every student has the chance to develop their voice, learn from professionals, and have their stories heard.
Thank you.
Thank you so much for your testimony.