High school students gathered from across the country, and even the world, last week to participate in the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communication’s Summer Media Institute (SMI).
This immersive, five-night, six-day event allowed students to gain relevant experience and knowledge in journalism. Attendees chose from a variety of electives and specializations that brought them into the hands-on world of a UF student and reporter.
Specializations offered at the 2023 program were Anchoring and Hosting, Broadcast Reporting, Communicating for the Greater Good, Feature and News Writing, Filmmaking: The Reel Narrative, Photojournalism, Sports Reporting and Social Media: Influencing and Storytelling.
In the morning, general topics applicable across multiple disciplines were taught and the students engaged in their elective sessions. They took a four-hour course every afternoon where they dove deeper into a specialization of their choice. The students studied, gained hands-on experience, and created a journalistic project such as a photography portfolio or newscast, all related to their specialization.
Courses were taught by the college’s faculty and staff, and the high schoolers were monitored by a team of resident assistants (RAs) and teachers assistants (TAs) who are current UF CJC students. Participants stayed in the dorms, ate at the Gator Dining halls, explored the Reitz Union, took campus and college tours, sang karaoke and even went bowling.
This year there were 19 resident and teacher assistants. They accompanied the students and provided examples of success in undergraduate life at UF.
‘I just want to give back to the students’
Mariana Larsen, a second-year RA and TA for the program, was an SMI attendee herself in 2018 and 2019. Now a UF undergraduate, she helped students with their specialized projects and electives and made sure they were safe in their dorms.
As a first-generation college student, she said the program opened her eyes to what being at a university, and being in the journalism field itself, could feel like.
“If it weren’t for this program, I don’t know what I would be doing,” Larsen said. “It helped me realize how much I wanted to go into journalism, and because of that, I just want to give back to the students, to provide them with that same opportunity – and just show them that there’s a real career in journalism.”
This year there were 173 students in the program, which she believes is the biggest group ever for the camp.
During Larsen’s time as a student assistant, some of her students have applied to UF and been accepted. They still keep in contact with her.
“I try to every now and then keep in touch with my students from last year… They were upcoming seniors when I met them, and after they left this camp they realized that they want to study journalism – they want to come here, to UF, for school,” she said. “Most of them actually got in, which I’m so happy for them, and they told me: ‘Hey, guess what, we got into the school! We’re gonna be in Gainesville in the fall, we’re gonna see you soon!’ and I just think that’s so amazing.”
Building relationships
Evening time is for programming and socializing, as peer-to-peer connections are an important part of the program.
“The best and brightest want to connect with the best and brightest, and iron sharpens iron,” Harrison Hove, director of the Summer Media Institute and Department of Journalism associate chair, said. “So, we allow them that chance to kind of build relationships with one another.”
The program has been held at UF for over four decades. Most attendees this year came from Florida, Hove said, but more than a dozen states were represented, such as New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and California, as well as a U.S. Territory: Puerto Rico. About 20% of the attendees were from outside of Florida.
Hove says one of his favorite things is having a student he taught at the Summer Media Institute later enroll in one of his UF undergraduate classes.
“It is such a privilege to know these students for four years as a college instructor here, but it’s even better to know them for five or for six,” he said. “Knowing them when they’re 15 years old or 16 years old, and then really seeing the growth and development in their own life and their shared interests over journalism or communication disciplines, it’s really something to see.”
The program gives high school students a chance to see how they can succeed and push themselves in their professional lives at UF, and Hove believes SMI is a catalyst in their desire to become a Florida Gator.
The cost of the program depended on when students signed up. It started at $850, increased to $950 on March 1, and then to $1,050 on May 1. Scholarships, which are mainly need-based, were offered. Between donor funds and SMI absorbing some costs, about $30,000 of scholarship money was given out.
‘I can really see myself going here’
Ellie Gomez Tovar, a second-year Summer Media Institute attendee from South Florida, said her high school’s yearbook adviser sent her a link in 2022 for a scholarship to attend SMI. She jumped at the opportunity immediately and, after submitting an essay entry, was awarded a full scholarship.
Gomez Tovar was invited back in 2023 for a discounted price since she was a previous participant. She didn’t hesitate to attend again.
“It’s just a great experience to see what it’s like to be a student at UF in the College of Journalism and Communications. It’s been really great getting to know my roommate and meet so many cool people from all over the state, all over the United States, and even from outside the country,” she said. “You can also connect so well with your professors and everyone you meet; it opened my eyes to the UF program, like everything I’ve looked forward to for college, but I didn’t previously know. It opened my eyes to how friendly people are here and how willing to help if you just go up and ask.”
Gomez Tovar said the program allowed her to make connections that could help her in the future, whether that be getting internships or even attending UF.
“Beforehand, I didn’t know too much and I thought, ‘I’ll apply anyway,’ but now it’s a definite top-of-my-list school because I think I can really see myself going here,” she said. “I feel confident that I can make it in, and I feel I’ve made so many connections here that it will be a good fit for me and I’m definitely applying in the fall.”
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Another student determined to come to UF after attending the program for two years is Ana Pujol, from Miami.
The program inspired her so much that she started her own program at her high school to introduce what she learned at SMI to other students.
“From the second I left the institute last year I gained a drive that I didn’t have before to put forth my best effort in everything I did, and to really learn to take criticism with an open mind,” Pujol said.
She described the program as a rewarding, fruitful and helpful experience for her as an individual and aspiring journalist. It showed her the environment of growth and positivity at UF, and she will be applying to the College of Journalism and Communications in the fall.
“It’s definitely my dream school, and if I get in I am 100% coming, but that’s not where it ends,” Pujol said. “I’m so set on it that I already know if I don’t get into UF I’m gonna go to Santa Fe (College) and then hopefully transfer over… Whatever path I take, I know I’m gonna be a Gator one way or another.”
‘I’m so thankful for the students and for their work here’
Kalisha Whitman, news manager in the Innovation News Center at UF CJC and a Summer Media Institute instructor, said the program provides one-on-one, hands-on experience from professionals and coaches to further students’ careers in journalism.
In her reporting course, 17 attendees received a crash-course of what being a multiskilled journalist is like. By the second day, students were picking up cameras and brainstorming what story they wanted to tell.
That freedom of choice allows students to be creative and immerse themselves in something they are passionate about. One of Whitman’s students focused on AI, and another on a piece about broadcaster Steve Russell.
“I am more inspired by the students than they probably are by me… I’m so thankful for the students and for their work here, because when you get to see that click in the eye like a spark plug, and when you get to just see the smiles,” Whitman said.
“They were really active, and they wanted to learn, and then the response that I got after – I am inspired, so I know that it will fuel me to keep moving mountains in a different way, and I hope that people will want to return and I hope they’ll spread the word because it really is great to celebrate journalism.”
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: UF CJC holds annual Summer Media Institute for high school students
