Three words is all it takes to start an introduction, but the answer is much more complex than just that. Laura Gonzalez, that’s my name and almost everyone calls me that, save for the few friends and family who call me Lala. Most people here have one thing in common, they live in Georgia however me and a few others are the exception to this rule.

Born in Coral Springs, Florida, I have spent my whole life down in the “Sunshine State” spending weekends at the beach and holidays at Disney or Universal. Despite my homes nickname and my love for laying on a towel along the coast with a book in hand, I tend to be compared to a paper sheet with a complexion so pale I feel like Edward Cullen when standing in the sun. But even though summer has just begun, time has begun to pass as senior year approaches and failed attempts to tan fall away. So how will I spend my last summer? How will I let it define me? That has yet to be seen.Back home I have been attending Coral Springs Charter School since 6th grade seeing how the school contains both middle and high school. After years within the same school, I’ve come to learn that change never stops with new and old friends leaving as well as new and old dreams arriving, but one thing that has remained constant in my life is literature. When I say literature it sounds fancy and broad but in reality I’m a person who thrives when reading a heart- wrenching romance or an action-packed adventure. Because of my interest in reading, I grew to want to write fiction. Telling the stories that I lived out in my head and writing out the dreams I had harbored allowed me to live out my fantasies through the characters that lived in the pages of my notebooks, but this wasn’t something I was able to learn about in school so I turned to the next best thing, journalism.

Going into journalism my freshman year of high school I thought I had signed up for newspaper but to my surprise, I somehow ended up in a yearbook classroom full of people who looked just as lost. I had made up my mind, I was going to ask to be transferred out, but then the teacher started talking and all thoughts of leaving left my mind. Mrs Harwell was loud, confident and VERY straightforward and when she looked at me she said, “If you don’t want to be here leave because I’m not going to put up with your bulls**t,” and with that I knew I was in this for the long run.

Now going into my senior year I’m glad I decided to see it through because without Mrs. Harwell and the editorial staff, high school would’ve really sucked. Freshman year I became an assistant underclassmen editor and by sophomore year managing my own group of kids as an editor. Junior year I did good enough that she let me be senior editor — I mean who ever heard of a junior being senior Editor — I was sure someone was going to come at me for it, but I knew I could do it so I saw it through. Next year I’m going in as editor-in-chief of my school yearbook and I know that all my effort throughout all these years was worth it. I get to call the shots, I get to have the final say. I get to prove to that freshman girl that we were worth the bulls**t.

But as much as I love yearbook, my true high school achievement lay within our literary magazine, which I have been editor-in-chief of since sophomore year. Freshman year no one seemed to care about it but I knew it was something I couldn’t look past, something I couldn’t let die out when our editor-in-chief left for college. Learning the ropes freshman year I picked up additional skills in my sophomore year practicing design in my free time. That year, I won the award for Best of the Best Literary Magazine spread at the FSPA states competition. I couldn’t believe it, I mean I was the first yearbook kid under Mrs. Harwell to ever win a Best of the Best at states. Who would’ve thought? The next year I went on to win that category once again. Journalism is more than just writing about someones story, it’s capturing the essence of it, whether that’s in a lit mag spread or a feature story.

Not everyone can say that they know what they want to be when they “grow up” and quite honestly neither can I, but I think I have an idea. My dream is to live life to the fullest: to read every book I find interesting, travel to every place I have on my list, take every risk that makes me feel like the world might just end if I see it through. I want to be able to travel and be free, not held in place by the weight of expectations or societal acceptances. Yep, my dream is to live in the Lala land I’m made up in my head (maybe now you’ll understand the nickname).

Life is meant to be enjoyed. To quote a show I did not quite love but did enjoy, “You Americans live to work. Here… here we work to live.” Thank you “Emily in Paris.” I think this is pretty true but I want to be the living exception, I want to break that rule. I may not seem that brave or extroverted, but in my mind there’s nothing that can stop me. No fear, no doubts, nothing. It may only take three words to start and introduction but it takes just two to respond. Laura Gonzalez. Two words that’s all they are, but those two words identify me.

Hello everyone! My name is Maika Walker and I am 14 years old. I am born and raised in Atlanta and will be attending North Atlanta High School in the Fall. It will be my freshman year and I’m excited to explore a new campus! One thing I am passionate about is sports. Whether that’s watching or playing its always been a big part of my life. Currently, I play year round volleyball and I’ve recently been getting into golf. I don’t have any prior experience in journalism, but I’m eager to learn.

Growing up, I’ve always been interested in some form of journalism. Whether it was news, sports or entertainment, I’ve always had an interest. But as soon I heard about my high schools’ newspaper The Warrior Wire, that was something I had to be apart of. So I made the decision to do everything I can to secure my seat on the newspaper staff. For the next 3-4 years, I will be taking journalism classes to be on the newspaper staff and hopefully turn it into a career later on. I don’t know much about journalism, but I will do everything in my power to be the best I can be.

Something I don’t ever think I could stop loving is volleyball. I’ve had an interest in it since I was about 8 years old. This will be my third consecutive year playing year round and I haven’t lost the love for it yet. I’ve played for my middle school for two years and played for Rio Volleyball Club and Ace Volleyball over the years. With tryouts coming back up quickly, who knows where I’ll end up next. I haven’t decided if I want to pursue my volleyball career in college but that is a decision I will have to choose soon.

If I’m not playing volleyball or in school, I’ve been getting into photography a lot recently. Having photography as a career doesn’t seem like something I’ll pursue, but I really enjoy having it for a hobby. I’m that type of person who takes photos of everything. Anything that is like remotely interesting I will take picture of. So I was trilled when my mother got me my own camera. It wasn’t some regular camera, it is a professional camera in which you have the option to take off the lens and put different ones on. It might not sound like much but it’s the little things in life that count for me.

One thing about me is that I always enjoy trying new things. With this being said, I am very excited to learn more about journalism and I can’t wait to explore the different aspects of it.

3,000 miles away from here is Marin County, California, the place that I have lived in my entire life. My name is Elsa Block and I go to Redwood High School. I am entering my senior year, one that is defiant and bittersweet, as it brings a close to childhood and youth. Most people in this program are from Georgia or a state nearby and easily drove here, but I had to take two separate planes and a bus to get here. Being from California, some may assume that I go to the beach often and have met many celebrities, but I have never met a celebrity and the beaches in Northern California are surprisingly very cold. The closest beach to my house is 30 minutes away and averages to be 50 degrees year round, and the water is so cold you can’t go in for more than five minutes without a wetsuit.

I learned to read when I was 2-years-old, and I learned to write when I was 5. Ever since I was young, I have enjoyed writing because it allows me to express my interests and opinions in a creative way. I became involved in my school newspaper my sophomore year. I have held positions such as a reporter and copy editor, and in the fall I will be the news editor-on-call. I like journalism because it allows for various voices and perspectives to be heard. I also enjoy editing and getting to help others refine their work.

Something interesting about me is that I have two different colored eyes- one is blue and one is brown. I was born with blue eyes, but according to my mom, when I was 1, my eyes randomly changed colors overnight. My parents thought something was wrong with me, but the eye doctors said I was completely fine. The eye doctor said I had a condition called heterochromia, which is a variation in color most commonly found in humans and animals. Even though heterochromia sounds like some crazy medical condition, it is entirely harmless.

Even though I am far away from home, stepping out of my comfort zone has caused me to learn more about other voices and perspectives and to embrace the change I may have otherwise not experienced.

In addition to Atlanta, I love exploring the city, shopping, going to concerts with my friends, and playing tennis. On Sundays, I like to get in my car and drive just 20 minutes into the city with no particular destination in mind. I scout out potential places for my friends and I to visit like local coffee shops or parks. I love taking my labradoodle Cali (named after California) on long walks in the park in the middle of the city. Most of the time, the driving in the city is the farthest thing from relaxing so I like to read and listen to music to unwind. My favorite kind of music is classic rock but I also listen to a little bit of Hip-Hop, R&B, Indie, and Pop. My favorite band is the Red Hot Chili Peppers and my favorite artist is Mac Miller.

I love traveling as well. I’ve visited over ten countries and twenty-five national parks. Something about experiencing a completely new environment and culture has always excited me. My extended family shares this excitement as well and for holidays we often like to go an adventurous trips such as sailing in the Bahamas. However, my family truly took it to the next level when we decided to go on a six month sabbatical across Europe. For six months, I was questionably homeschooled and went to what seemed like every art museum in Europe. We stayed with many friends in Spain, France, England, Belgium, and Amsterdam. I made a lot of new friends and ate a low of new food. During this time, I developed a taste for caviar, distaste for pigeons, and a new appreciation for the beauty of different cultures.

My friends and I in front of a volcano in Costa Rica!

Although I don’t have a lot of formal journalism experience, I really enjoy informational writing for my classes. Reading and writing is something that I’ve enjoyed since a young age. My mom even used to call me a mini Shakespeare because I would write so much poetry in elementary school. Journalism itself is something I’ve become more interested in recently as more of my classes have incorporated news style assignments. These assignments were challenging but enjoyable for me which is what led me to signing up for this camp.

Hi! I am Legacy Jackson. I am 14 years old, and from St.Louis, Missouri . As a 14 year old I have many expectations to live up to. At only 14 years old I am: published author, competitive dancer, news reporter for the New Real STL news, an owner of a 50lc3 community service organization, Girl Scout media team member, a youth advocate for iHeart Radio, and a girl boss. In your free time you should go follow me on instagram @thelegacyjackson and watch me on the Drew Barrymore Show. Journalism is definitely a career that interests me, anything that has to do with being in front of a camera interests me.

My passion for journalism started when I was about 5 years old. I had my first opportunity to go on Fox 2 news to talk about selling Girl Scout Cookies. We went to the station and my mom had to literally pull me out of the building. Who knew that I wanted to be in front of a camera that bad. Just about three weeks later I was invited to join the Girl Scout media team. That team has provided me with many opportunities, I got to, and still am practically the face of GSEM ( Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri). And now we are at the Fox 2 new station just about every other week recording different segments. I started doing this at the age of 5 and now I am 14. Now when we go to the station I am known. I don’t only go there for only GSEM I go there to talk about all of the amazing things that I have going on in my life.

I am also on the Youth POV board for iHeart Radio. On this segment we discuss different topics that we feel are important to us as kids. The age of this team varies so that everyone can be heard. Also from this engagement we gain siblings. People that are there to help us through our ups and downs in life. These people are also there to support each other.

I plan to become a news anchor woman when I grow up. I want to be at the news station as much as possible when I am older. But I want to be able to create my own segment on the news where kids that are doing positive things around the world can be highlighted. I feel that young entrepreneurs like me should have a chance to get the spotlight on them. Since we are living in a world were so many negative things are happening. I feel that we need to know that there are positive people that are here, maybe even sitting right next to you. What I would call it is “ordinary kids doing extraordinary things.” Another way I am getting my word out about this topic is I am doing a TEDx Talk. Where I will be talking to a room full of people and motivating them to do amazing things. My love for this topic came from me owing my own 50lc3 — Little Legacies Community Service Organization — which I am the founder of. Little Legacies helps kids get involved with community service. We do a different community service project every month. It is operated by kids: we pick, plan, and do the projects. Parents only over see it.

I have had many setbacks in life but I choose to not let them get the best of me. One of my major setbacks was when I lost my brother at the age of 19. Brendon pasted away from Type 1 Juvenile Diabetes. This had to be one of the most traumatizing things that has ever happened to me. But instead of letting that incident get me down I chose to write a book in memory of him — Bubbles for Brendon — now every where we go we blow bubbles for him. This book is about coping skills from A-Z. It is available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Half of the proceeds from this book actually go towards JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation). This company tries to find a cure for Type 1 Diabetes.

Everyone is going to have major setbacks and challenge that we have to overcome but instead of letting it get us down we should be able to make that motivate us to get better.

Zoi’ . Pronounced Zo-ey , meaning long life . Life to live beyond years of wisdom, power, emotional and mental stability.

Zoi Bascom, age 17 going into my senior year of high school. I love reading Wattpad stories and twirling. I plan to major in the medical field, but minor in politics. Over the years I have came to learn more about myself: I’m 5’2, I enjoy eating fruit snacks, my favorite show is Avatar, and my favorite movie is either Twilight or Divergent. I learned how to twirl a baton in 2021 and grew a strong love for it. I have a dog named Ari but we like to call her ” bear ” because she acts like a little bear. I used to write my own books but soon fell out of it when I realized writers block was a thing.

I have little to no experience when it comes to journalism. I did my school’s yearbook, but our yearbook isn’t the average teenage high school year books (lol) . We more so blogged about our experience than what the school actually is . Journalism seems cool especially because I love politics , kinda why I’m watching Scandal right now but also because sports entertainment is so cool to me. Athlete interviews, the inside scoop on a high school student getting offers in a sport he loves is so interesting to me and it’s an interesting story to tell . Writing has always been cool to me and I’d like to learn more about it . I heard there’s journalists positions in the White House like the people who write the New York Times , Vogue blogs , the presidents council speech etc ..

Sports wise I’m a lot more experienced there . I’ve been running track since middle school but soon stopped when covid hit , which was end of my 8th grade year and my whole freshman yea . Going into my sophomore year I wanted to start again but I knew my body wasn’t physically ready so I took my talents into dance, and started twirling my sophomore year and loved it . Baton twirling became a passion to me because not many girls do it, especially black girls at a majority black school so it was nice to try and now the team is still going . Twirling is my forever first love , but track has my heart as well .

Hey there! My name is Lauren and I’m starting my sophomore year of high school at The Paideia School. I was born and raised in Atlanta and know most of the city like the back of my hand. This past school year, I was a staff writer and part-time copy editor for my school’s newspaper. I wrote a couple of brief school sports articles at the beginning of the year, but then I found my calling in the opinion/editorial page of the paper.

Opinion articles are my favorites to read and to write because almost no one has the exact same views on everything. While I might read an article and disagree with the opinion that is being made, I think that it is important to see a variety of different views because no opinion is wrong. This past school year, I would find myself publishing articles to my school newspaper and then abruptly having a reader come up to me and tell me how much they disagree with me. Although sometimes a little rude, I like to leave the space open for everyone to share their opinions because I think that journalism is a great form of expression whether it comes from the New York Times or from Twitter.

I would describe myself as a budding true crime connoisseur as I am a frequent listener to true crime podcasts on Spotify. Unsolved murders are my favorite type of murders because I love being left with the question of “whodunnit?”. True crime is one of my more recent (as of a few months ago) interests and I am very excited to continue to immerse myself into the mystery of murder.

(I’m the one on the right)

Marin. The meaning of my name is “of the sea.” Although it seems as if I should embody my name, I actually dislike the ocean. The ocean is full of unknown and uncertainty which is not the most appealing to me. Ironically, I spend the majority of my afternoons in winter, in water, at the pool swimming for my swim team at my highschool, Oconee County High School. I live in Athens, Georgia, however, I was born in Houston, Texas on August 7th, 2009. When I was 2, my family moved to Athens, Georgia, and I have been here ever since. I am 13 and am going to be a freshman in Highschool.

I have almost no experience in journalism, but I enjoy reading the news and reading good articles. NPR, The New York Times, and The Atlantic, are my go-to’s for something to read. One of my favorite things to do is read, but I am not as fond of writing. I enjoy it, but not as much as reading. I think I want to have a career in law, which contains as a lot of reading and writing. I am not opposed to having a career in journalism, so I think this camp will be helpful in figuring out if I want to have a career in journalism or not.

I do 2 sports, swimming and tennis, almost polar opposites. Swimming is my fall/winter sport, and tennis is my spring/summer sport. Reading is also one of my other hobbies. My favorite books include, “Little Women,” “A Tree Grows In Brooklyn,” and “Native Son.” In addition to those hobbies, I like to collect records, play piano, and cook. I also have the best dog in the whole world, named after the “Star Wars” character, Obi. My favorite TV show has to be a tie between Gilmore Girls, and Modern Family. I can also understand and speak Mandarin, and I am trying to learn how to speak Tagalog.

Sadly, I do not embody the meaning of my name, but I believe that there is much more to the meaning Marin, than “of the sea”.

Hi! My name is Hunter Pitrak and I live in Roswell, Georgia. I go to Roswell High School. In the fall I will be a junior. I have two very annoying brothers named Trevor and Dylan, Trevor is 14 and Dylan is 11. We also have a dog named Dash, who has one eye (fun fact).

This past school year was my first time taking journalism, and I enjoyed it a lot. I enjoy writing news and sports articles. My teacher told us about this camp and I really liked the idea of it because ever since I moved to Atlanta I have become a big Georgia fan and found UGA as a school I really want to go to. I also wanted to do this camp to learn more about journalism and hope to become a better writer, as well as get to learn more about UGA as far as the campus and community.

I was originally born in Richmond Virginia, where I moved around a couple times when my brothers came along because the houses kept running out of room. When I was going into 3rd grade, my family moved to Tampa, Florida, where we lived for about four years. Then after that, we moved to Atlanta Georgia. I have to say, Georgia is probably my favorite place that I have lived. While I miss some of my best friends from Florida as well as Virginia, I am able to arrange plans to see them every once in a while. I think Atlanta is a great place to live and a great option for me and my family.

In my free time — whenever have some — I enjoy hanging out with my friends, as well as baking and going shopping.

I have tried just about every sport when I was younger, but softball has been something I have stuck with for a long time. I started playing when I was about 7, and I haven’t really stopped. My freshman and sophomore year of high school I played for my school, but this year I decided to try out flag football, which I am also having lots of fun with. I also do swim team for my high school in the winter, which I really enjoy.

I have done summer swim team ever since I lived in Virginia because my parents put me in it and I found out how much fun it was so I kept going back every summer. Now that I am 16, I was offered the opportunity to coach this summer, and that’s what I have been doing. It is so fun, and I really enjoy working with kids and teaching them to better their swimming skills. I also work at a Barbecue restaurant that my neighbor owns, which has become a great job for me. I love the people I work with, and I find working in restaurant teaches great life lessons.

UGA has been a top college choice for me ever since I moved here, and I hope to get in, but if not I know wherever I end up will hopefully work out for me!

Hi, I’m Naima Salvary, but my close friends call me Nai. I’m from Birmingham, Alabama. I go to the Alabama School of Fine Arts, I’m 14, and I’m an incoming freshman. At my school I’m a creative writing major but I wanted to explore different writing styles. Something interesting about myself that I like to tell people is that I’m a extremely picky eater. It’s not that exciting, but it’s something everyone around me notices sooner or later.

I don’t have much experience in journalism yet, but in this incoming school school year I plan to take the journalism and yearbook courses my school offers. I’m very interested in opinion pieces and entertainment. This past school year I had to do alot of research for papers and cite my sources which has also peaked my interest in Journalism.

Having a voice, and spreading awareness about topics is very important to me, and I feel like journalism is the perfect way to express that. Since I was little I’ve always been about speaking up and standing up for things that are important to me. I’ve always thought journalism is a great tool to inform and bring attention to important causes.

Writing in general has always been a huge part of my life and is probably the thing closest to me. Discovering different styles of writing such as journalism is important to me. I want to be able to find my voice.