Arcadia Unified Students Attend USC Annenberg Youth Academy: Learning the Future of Journalism

By Arcadia UnifiedDigital Communication Intern Bethany Chow

“I knew I wanted to pursue something I was already interested in:journalism and communications. I thought the University of Southern CaliforniaAnnenberg Youth Academy was an incredible opportunity that I had to takeadvantage of,” said Sandi Khine, Arcadia High School (AHS) senior and studentmanager of the Arcadia Unified School District Digital CommunicationsInternship (DCI). She attended the USC Annenberg Youth Academy, a prestigiousfour-week intensive summer program for 26 students from high schools in the LosAngeles area. Khine is one of many AHS student interns in DCI that have beenaccepted into and attended the USC Annenberg Youth Academy. In the AnnenbergYouth Academy, students have the opportunity to develop an understanding of andpractice media communications and journalism. Despite the difference of ethnic,cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds between the 26 students from alldifferent schools, they also get to find “solace in the things [they] have incommon, and realize that they are all teens with dreams,” Khine said. 

The Annenberg Youth Academy is the equivalent of several first-yearcollege courses, and as Sofia Nagy, another AHS student in DCI who attended theprogram in the summer of 2019, said, “The teachers teach you everything theyknow which is really amazing.” The knowledge gained from this program isn’t theonly pro about it. Nagy added, “You get to know the dean [Dean Willow Bay] andget so many other connections.” In addition to teaching, the Annenberg Youth Academyalso typically includes three field trips, including visits to the JapaneseAmerican National Museum, a Dodgers game, and the California African AmericanMuseum to get hands-on experience in multimedia journalism. Brandon Chen, AHSstudent and DCI intern, who attended Annenberg Youth Academy in 2018, says,“Being led by USC’s world-class professors and being at the cutting edge ofmedia and communications at Annenberg’s studio is an experience I’ll neverforget.” 

This year, due to the rapidly-evolving COVID-19 situation, USC AYA hasopted for a “two-week online program on Zoom featuring a differentworkshop daily for 90 minutes,” states Jaime Carias, the director of theprogram. Students will still receive feedback on their work from professors during these onlineclasses. Currently, Carias has not considered what access accepted applicantswill receive to Annenberg’s Media Center, the podcast studio, and the videostudio, which accepted applicants usually have access to.

“Being a part of AYA was really an essential step in my journey intodigital communications,” Chen remarked. Since this summer program has so manyresources for its students, Khine learned how to adapt to the changing medialandscapes “where flexibility and adaptability are often more important thanlong-term permanency.” Michael Tseng, a DCI alumnus who has attended USCJournalism Day, USC’s Annenberg Youth Academy for rising journalists, and is acurrent journalism major on a full-ride scholarship at the University ofSouthern California, suggests, “Everyone [should] apply, regardless if you havemuch experience in the field, or very little.” Even if you apply with littleknowledge and are accepted, “perhaps,” Tseng says, “you may find your own lovein the field.” 

While the USC Annenberg Youth Academy is a wonderful program, it isvery selective, so the AHS students of DCI provided a few suggestions forgetting accepted. Khine emphasizes that you have to “Start early, [so you can]write, rewrite, and edit your essays.” Nagy agrees, saying that you definitelymust “not procrastinate.” Khine adds that “getting someone to proofread [youressays], whether it’s another student or a trusted adult” is a must. Finally,“just write what you think and are passionate about,” Khine said. “Don’t worryabout what they want to hear.”

While applying to the Annenberg Youth Academy may have started as justsomething to fill a summer, all four DCI interns interviewed later realized itwas much more than that. The program taught them how to tell stories, producemultimedia projects, see the world from new perspectives, and so much more.Annenberg Youth Academy also provides college-level professors and connectionsthat open the world of digital communications for the attendees of the program.All four interns repeated how much fun the program was and the friends theymade; but just as important, they learned how to communicate effectively, whichis important, because, as Tseng stated, “Digital communications is important inmaintaining accessibility to resources and promoting educational benefits tothe whole community.” In attending and learning from this program they havehelped not only themselves but all the people that see and experience theirwork. Digital communications is the future of journalism and communications.Through this program, these DCI interns have had fun, gained extensiveknowledge, and most importantly, learned the future of journalism.

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