Every summer, Saint Mary's students are inspired to expand their horizons and have new experiences. Emma Rose McCune '19 traveled from her Raleigh home to New York City for a program with the New York Times. Here's what she had to say about the experience:
This summer I spent two weeks in New York City enrolled in the New York Times Summer Academy. A Saint Mary's alumna, Eliza Barsanti '17, participated in the program two summers ago and told her Saint Mary's dance instructor – who happens to be my mother, about how amazing the experience was; and my mom mentioned it to me. After looking it up online, I knew this program was something I wanted to try.
The program took place over two weeks and consisted of classes that met Monday through Friday and included some required activities after class and a lot of free time to explore the city with friends.
The course I took shifted focus three times from journalism, to law, to the United Nations. For the first three days an investigative journalist taught our class. We learned about how to write an good news article and then wrote one ourselves. Then we were taught about the law and government by a lawyer in a very engaging way that included visits to the courts to see cases in action. Lastly, we learned about the United Nations and toured the United Nations building. By exploring these three different subjects, I have gained more awareness about the world and have discovered topics and ideas that resonate with me, which I intend to continue to learn more about. The instructors were extremely experienced, engaging, and inspiring individuals. In the classes we were encouraged to share our thoughts and learned public speaking skills. We did writing exercises in all the subjects to help improve our ability to think and write more quickly. In the group of classes I was in, every student had a unique and diverse background which helped to show many perspectives when discussing difficult topics or issues. I learned so much from my peers as well as my instructors.
This program really pushed me out of my comfort zone and helped me to gain new skills. I am taking away so many lessons from this program that I will use in my life at Saint Mary's and beyond. Two of them being public speaking and self-advocacy skills, which have improved by being encouraged to speak as much as possible during this program. I have also gotten better at making quick decisions and speaking on the spot, answering questions without much preparation. Most importantly I feel that being able to meet so many interesting people with such different backgrounds and perspectives has helped me to view the world in a new way. I have been able to look at ideas and issues through the lenses of many different eyes. My time at the New York Times Summer Academy was remarkable and has impacted my life forever.
Emma Rose McCune '19