23 Comments

1. Jamila T. Williams
   05.17.10

   I decided to become a Chips Quinn Scholar because I wanted to hone my skills not only as a journalist, but also as a multimedia journalist. The journalism field is rapidly changing and in order to thrive in this business, multimedia skills are necessary.

2. Danielle Cintron
   05.17.10

   After I went through the Diversity Institute’s Multimedia Scholars program, Val Hoeppner, Diversity Institute manager of multimedia training, suggested that I apply to the Chips Quinn Scholars program. I did and oddly enough, I was accepted. Multimedia is a great way to express what is going on in the world. I truly enjoy video and aspire to one day create investigative documentaries.

3. Trevor Hunnicutt
   05.17.10

   I’m working with the Chips Quinn Scholars program because it was recommended to me by my human resources contact at The Associated Press. I’m eager to see how the program’s take on multimedia applications in the newsroom will apply to the type of reporting that is done at the wire service. I’m particularly interested in how I can increase the quality of our product by engaging consumers’ burgeoning use of new media.

4. June Wu
   05.17.10

   A colleague at The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer, where I worked as a Kaiser health and media intern last summer, recommended that I apply for the Chips Quinn Scholars program. The colleague had read a feature I wrote about visiting parents from China in the greater Cleveland area who lack health insurance and who self-administer drugs from abroad because of language barriers and problems accessing health care.

5. Wesley Robinson
   05.17.10

   During an internship interview with The (Louisville) Courier-Journal, an editor told me about the Chips Quinn Scholars program and asked if I had thrown my name into the hat for the program. I missed that deadline, along with effectively missing the C-J’s deadline as a result of having contracted H1N1 (swine flu). Luckily, the editor saw something in me that helped me beat the fact that I missed the deadline, which allowed me to apply for and receive the scholarship. Long story short: a little bit of luck brought me here.

6. Kelly Truong
   05.17.10

   What brought me to the Chips Quinn Scholars program? Easy. I was grandfathered in through the Chronicle of Higher Education’s partnership.

   What brought me to the field of journalism? Kind of more complicated, but not really. I love people. I make sense out of the world through the stories people tell. Through journalism, I’ve had the opportunity to sit down with so many people, from artists to politicians to ordinary people on the street, and I learn more about the world with every single conversation. I love it and can’t see myself doing anything else.

7. April Choi
   05.17.10

   I’m friends with several Chipsters from last summer’s class. They all told me that I should apply. So I applied and went through an hour-long interview with Chips Quinn Career Coach Colleen Fitzpatrick, during which we talked about journalism, of course, but also really random things like culinary mystery novels.

8. Madoree Pipkins
   05.17.10

   I heard about the Chips Quinn Scholars program during my freshman year of college. I researched it and thought it sounded great, except for one thing: It was limited to newspaper internships. As a broadcast major, I thought to myself, “Newspapers? I knew it was too good to be true.”

   Last summer, I was admitted to the Diversity Institute’s Multimedia Scholars program. I was the only broadcast person, but that was OK. I learned about print media and multimedia through a summer internship at the Advocate-Messenger in Danville, Ky. I learned there was a place in the newsroom for my broadcast skills and an opportunity for me to learn print skills through multimedia work.

   Now I am certain I will keep trying to learn all I can, where I can, and I appreciate the Freedom Forum for allowing me to participate in this program.

9. Kimberly Chua
   05.17.10

   I am here because I am thankful for the opportunity to be able to pursue what I love to do through the support of others who share the same passions and beliefs.

   What brought me here was the fact that journalism is one of the few things I am excited about, regardless of where it may take me.

   One question I have about journalism is why there is such a disparity between the numbers of women and people of color in the classroom versus those in the workforce. As a woman of color, I am excited that programs like this encourage us and provide opportunities that may otherwise not be available.

   I am here to show others that the quality of your work is not determined by gender or skin color. Instead, in the case of journalism, it is determined by your concern for, interest in, and commitment to reporting honestly about others, their stories and what matters to them.

10. Shannon Epps
    05.17.10

    The decision to follow my heart brought me here.

    As a pharmacy major my freshman year of college, I knew that I wouldn’t be happy joining that profession. Although I would have likely graduated in six years earning six figures, I wasn’t willing to trade my happiness for material possessions. I changed my major quickly to journalism, and I’m happy I did. I immediately began building relationships with my professors, who put me in contact with the people who could help me further my career. After I landed my first internship after freshman year, I knew I had made the right decision in changing my major.

    Throughout subsequent internships, I learned more about journalism and realized that I had a passion for copy editing. I was thrilled to be awarded a copy-editing summer internship, which solidified my love of the craft. Nearing the end of my senior year of college, I received an offer to be a Chips Quinn Scholar. Although I love copy editing, I know that multimedia skills are essential in the journalism industry. I hope the Chips Quinn Scholars program will help me improve the skills I need to be successful as I pursue the career that I chose for love, not money.

11. Lindsey Bomnin
    05.17.10

    I didn’t find Chips Quinn. Chips Quinn found me. My summer internship at the Austin American-Statesman was firmed up in November 2009. A few months later, the Chips Quinn Scholars program contacted me, telling me that I had been nominated for the program through my upcoming internship. At first, I was confused. I didn’t apply for this. I had only heard about the program but knew little about it. After a short conversation with Chips Quinn Program Director Karen Catone, I was sold. An intense multimedia training program in Nashville, Tenn. — for the sake of diversity and journalism, I couldn’t turn it down. Here I go…

12. Sophia Li
    05.17.10

    Since last semester, the other members of the editorial board and I have been asking ourselves why our newsroom is not as diverse as we would like. Our staff is predominantly white. It is more common for the top editors to be male, rather than female. Most of our reporters and editors study political science, English, public policy and history.

    Since last semester, we have also been asking ourselves what difference this makes. How would our coverage be different if our staff brought with them a more varied set of experiences to their reporting and writing? We haven’t been able to put our fingers on the answer. After all, how do you know what it is that you’re missing?

    I’m here in Nashville to continue asking about the importance of diversity in the newsroom. Journalism has taught me that every story has more than one side. I’m here looking toward a future where the newsroom itself includes the multiplicity of perspectives that we apply to our worlds.

13. Amanda Portillo
    05.17.10

    Last fall at the University of Arizona, our journalism school’s internship adviser told me about Chips Quinn. I applied and since that time I have also met other “Chipster” alums through the New York Times Student Journalism Institute, including one who was my mentor there. Meeting the Chipsters and then being accepted into the program is definitely making me look forward to what I will be learning this week and at my host newspaper this summer.

14. Liz Gonzalez
    05.17.10

    I applied to the Chips Quinn Scholars program because I believe in the growing need for diversity in our newsrooms. Our newsrooms need more positive coverage of minority communities. My Chips Quinn internship will allow me to work toward narrowing the coverage gap and set an example for journalists to come.

15. Taryn Luna
    05.17.10

    I traveled here by car, plane and then a shuttle bus. But the moment that truly brought me here came two years ago. As a sophomore struggling to find my niche and considering dropping out of school, I had little hope for my future. Somewhere during my education, I lost my passion for life. Then I enrolled in a reporting class and everything changed. Somewhere during my first interview, the fire inside me ignited again and has steadily burned ever since. I live to tell stories that matter, stories that change people’s lives and that need to be heard.

16. Ilissa Gilmore
    05.17.10

    “Buy the ticket, take the ride.” A simple phrase from an outrageous individual, Hunter S. Thompson. At a young age, I became familiar with his work through the film “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” based on his novel of the same name.

    To me, his words mean that once a person has committed to doing something, the only and best way to do whatever that is, is to just do it–”go all out” and take whatever abuse may come his or her way.

    Once I decided to become a journalist, that meant not only immersing myself in news and storytelling, but also immersing myself in environments that would nurture me and allow me to achieve my goals to the fullest.

    At school, I did this by joining Wayne State’s Journalism Institute for Media Diversity, which has changed my life in too many ways to be portrayed with any kind of justice in this blog post. It was through the institute that I became aware of the Chips Quinn Scholars program, the best organization available for helping young journalists realize their potential.

    Therefore, I bought the ticket and now I’m taking the ride, wherever it may lead; and that’s what brought me here.

17. Eboni Farmer
    05.17.10

    Fate might have brought me to Nashville. I am at the Freedom Forum Diversity Institute because this is where I belong.

    Listening to John Seigenthaler, founder of the First Amendment Center, speak about his past really hit home. I know that in the past people who looked like me were not welcome in newsrooms. However, to hear someone who was a part of that era say that at the time he did not see anything wrong with it makes the injustice come to life. It makes me want to fight for those who wanted to write stories in the past but could not. I am here because I believe that now, more than ever, diversity in newsrooms around this country is important. When I look at what is going on in Arizona with immigration laws, it is evident that newsrooms there need diversity. A diverse staff permits different perspectives on issues to be discussed and reflected in the stories that are written.

18. Marie D. De Jesus
    05.17.10

    What brought me here is the desire to produce multimedia content while also being mentored. In Puerto Rico, multimedia is still in diapers and we are learning as we go. Students get so few opportunities to work on projects that put theory into practice.

    I am committed to producing engaging visual content, and I believe that my experience this summer will help me achieve that goal.

19. Phillip Lucas
    05.17.10

    Two friends (and former Chipsters), Christina Wright and Richard White, who both happen to be from Houston, said some good things about the Chips Quinn Scholars program. When I was selected for a summer internship at The Washington Post, Peter Perl, the internship coordinator there, suggested to Chips Quinn Scholars Program Director Karen Catone that I come to Nashville for orientation and multimedia training. Accepting the offer to join the program was probably one of the easiest and most instantaneous decisions I’ve made this year.

    I’ve had little multimedia experience, so I’m definitely looking forward to learning more about various production and editing techniques during my time in Nashville. We haven’t started our multimedia training yet, but I have a feeling I’ll arrive at the Post thanking Mr. Perl profusely for sending me to Nashville.

20. Molly K. Young
    05.17.10

    A little more than a year ago, I admitted to my journalism professor that I was lost. I needed to meet other diverse journalists. Actually, I didn’t know any other Native journalists at my school, or in Lincoln, Neb., at all.

    “Well that’s easy to fix,” he said. “Call Kevin Abourezk. He’s great.”

    That afternoon, I nervously called Kevin, a reporter at the Lincoln Journal Star and a Chips Quinn alum. We met a few days later for lunch and he encouraged me to apply for the Freedom Forum’s diversity programs.

    I took Kevin’s advice, and after spending 2009 at the American Indian Journalism Institute, I am happy to be a part of the Chips Quinn program this summer.

21. Virginia Singarayar
    05.17.10

    I learned about Chips Quinn from Aaron Montoya, a friend and co-worker who was in the Summer 2009 class of Chips Quinn Scholars. I later met two more Chipsters from the same class and each recommended that I apply to the program.

    I read about Chips Quinn and the Freedom Forum on the program Web site and was immediately interested in the idea of an organization that supports newsroom diversity and young journalists of color.

    I applied to several newspaper internship programs, including the Chips Quinn program. I was chosen as a design intern at The Denver Post in early January and told Chips Quinn Scholars Program Director Karen Catone that I had found an internship. Karen contacted the Post’s managing editor and they named me a Scholar in that newsroom. I was excited when I found out that I not only landed an internship at my first-choice newspaper but also earned a spot in the Chips Quinn program.

    Chips Quinn alumni Aaron Montoya and Carolyn Chin have offered great advice and encouragement to me in my journalism career. I am thankful I took their advice. I am already feeling excited and privileged to be here after hearing the welcome speeches today.

22. Mark Mock
    05.17.10

    “What brought you here?”

    Journalism. That word sums up why I am here, why I get so little sleep during the school year and where I want to be in the future.

    Journalism is more than my career, it is my motivation, my inspiration and when I am doing it correctly, it is what allows me to sleep at night.

    How I got here is through word of mouth. Or rather, through an order from a current Chipster, Ilissa Gilmore, and a past Chipster, Carolyn Chin.

    As students in the Journalism Institute for Media Diversity at Wayne State University we are expected to meet certain standards. We must do internships every semester, and every semester our internships must get more challenging. Being in tier four of the program, I applied to large internship programs in order to grow as a journalist.

    I know that through the program I will get better as a journalist and learn more and connect with more journalists than I could by merely working at an internship.

    I am here because of journalism and I am pushed forward by my peers and mentors.

23. Bethany Mollenkof
    05.17.10

    I was told about the Chips Quinn Scholars program by a friend at school who had previously participated in the program, and I decided to apply. I was looking for more experience in the field of photojournalism through an internship, and the support of the Chips Quinn program seemed like a viable way to go.