Leslie Wilcox is well known in Hawaii for her many years in broadcast journalism and most recently as CEO & President of PBS Hawaii. I recall watching her on KHON Channel 2 morning news with Kirk Matthews...little did I know I would have an opportunity to work with her on a town hall project when I was a senior in high school called "Hawaii 2000." (Scroll to the December 16, 1999 article.) -A connection which later led to a fabulous summer internship at KHON.
I'm really glad this came up because I've actually been reflecting on those experiences recently, particularly "Hawaii 2000." That town hall project was actually the first time I really fell in love with education. -I had always loved school and learning and all, but it was the first time I had really talked to teachers and counselors and administrators about the field of education - the problems in the system, and what drove them to do what they do. They obviously weren't in it for the money - they worked with their hearts - in a system that barely appreciated them. The biggest rewards (and often the only rewards they got) were the intrinsic - memories of the students that came in and out of their lives. Here's a quote about my experience doing "Hawaii 2000" from the young me, foreshadowing what would be my future:
This really changed me. It made me realize what demands the future holds for us. As for my future, I've become motivated to become an educator, so I can personally follow through with our plans to improve education.
Anyhow, we were split into groups and my group's mentor/leader was Leslie Wilcox. I recall being extremely excited because of all the reporters that were leaders, Leslie was my favorite. Though I didn't get to know her personally from that experience, I did email her a couple years later, asking about internship opportunities at KHON. I was finishing up my sophomore year at Mount Holyoke College and was going to do my "semester abroad" in Washington, DC in an intensive journalism program with American University's "Washington Semester" program the following semester and thought to myself, "Gee, maybe I should get some journalism experience before I head out there!"
Lucky for me, Leslie forwarded my email to the managing editor, a fabulous man named Mark Matsunaga. I alternated between coming in at 5:30am and coming in the evenings to get an idea of what went on around the clock. I went out on many assignments with the camera guys, and wrote my own articles side-by side with people like Bernadette Baraquio (who was now doing the morning show with Kirk Matthews as Leslie had been promoted to evening news!), Tina Shelton, and Greg Takayama. Though my voice was never on the news, I wrote the words that came out of Joe Moore's mouth! -Pretty awesome!
After returning to Hawaii several years later, most of the group that was at KHON while I interned was gone, but I was so glad that Leslie Wilcox was on to bigger and better things...and now, I'm so glad she's got a blog to share with the world!
I ended up eating, sleeping, and breathing journalism for only that summer in Hawaii at KHON and the following semester in DC. The semester in DC was an amazing experience where we had intensive classes 3 days a week, and an internship for 2 days a week. Almost every class involved at least one, if not two or three or more "field trips" and guest speakers. My internship was amazing as well. I had a late start on my internship hunt and my final choices were either being a "gofor" girl at This Week With Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts or actually being an intern reporter with Market News International. The choice was obvious to me - I wanted to write.
Market News International was amazing. The office was in the National Press Building, I loved the people who worked there, and I had fabulous opportunities to report at the senate gallery and at the IMF/World Bank Conferences! (I saved my credentials, too! They're in a box somewhere....) It was somewhat intimidating being someone who knew so little about economics and policy, but it was an amazing experience and my articles were actually published with my name in the by-line on their real-time financial newswire!
In both my intro to higher ed course and my student affairs seminar we've been talking about the importance of learning that occurs "outside" the classroom and the "bridges" to be built between academics and the real world. I truly can't say enough about the Washington Semester program and if anyone out there, reading my blog is considering it, my advice is DO IT. Even though I eventually decided that while I loved writing and the adrenaline rush of deadlines, it was just not the career for me. Luckily, the experiences I had in DC are ones that I will remember for a lifetime - not to mention all that writing which definitely helped me sharpen my writing skills!!!
So glad Leslie has a blog. So glad I spent a semester in DC doing journalism. So glad I fell in love with education.
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