Outgoing editors reflect on their experience in student media
May 24, 2022
I spoke with outgoing Student Media editors Jordan Gorham and Korissa Smith, who gave their opinion on student media and great advice for incoming staff reporters. Here is what they had to say:
Jordan Gorham
What did you enjoy most about Student Media?
“I really enjoyed writing stories and interviewing people because I love hearing people’s stories/opinions and you know what they say, ‘There’s always two sides to a story.’”
What’s one story you wish you could redo/update that was posted to gcaatoday.com?
“I wish I could’ve updated the college acceptances story because a lot of people including [myself who got into Howard University] got into some amazing schools.”
Any advice to leave for other students planning/wanting to join Student Media?
“If you’re going to join student media it does take a lot of work and patience, but don’t be afraid to push people to answer your questions more thoroughly because at the end of the day it’s your grade.”
Korissa Smith
What did you enjoy most about Student Media?
“What I enjoyed most about Student Media was the interaction I got with different people. I got to meet and talk to many people that I wouldn’t have met or talked to otherwise. This was important to me because I was able to bring out many people, showing people that ‘This person exists and they are doing great things’ I LOVE THAT! I also loved the exclusive multiple perspectives I got on certain subjects. You become more open being in Student Media. You also start to see that everything is layered. There is not just one side to a story and this is a very important idea to understand being in journalism.”
What’s one story you wish you could redo/update that was posted to gcaatoday.com?
“Honestly, I believe that I had done pretty good on all of the stories I had written. I try not to write/publish something I’ll regret because everyone will see it. Though that can be difficult, I do wish that I could have written more about individual students or groups of kids. Putting more emphasis on the actual students of GCAA and their story.”
Any advice to leave for other students planning/wanting to join Student Media?
“Advice I would give to any student considering Student Media is to definitely keep in mind all the hard work that goes into it. Student Media is not simple. It is not just writing a few articles about whatever and being done. It is hunting people down, it is coming back to the same or multiple people for information, it is MANY late nights sometimes even whole days getting a major story (or yearbook) done. Sometimes you’ll have help, sometimes you’ll do a lot of it by yourself. That is why you HAVE to have PASSION and DETERMINATION. You cannot accept and want to do the minimum no matter how easy that alternative is. Even though all of that sounds difficult, it is worth it because the reward is seeing people’s reactions when they LOVE reading or seeing something you wrote or designed and knowing YOU, NO ONE ELSE BUT YOU did that…There is no other reward.”