Two years ago, The Walpole High School journalizers (more professionally known as the Rebellion staff) headed to the Big Apple for a day trip to People Magazine in order to get a first-hand experience of the world of journalism. Because the trip was so successful in 2009, Mr. Conor Cashman, the Rebellion’s teacher advisor, organized a second trip to New York City this year. The staff, however, was not able to take a tour of People Magazine as they had last time, but Mr. Cashman was able to rent out a conference room in the New York Public Library where they were visited by four real-world journalists in the city. After a few hours of conferencing with these journalists, the Rebellion staff was allowed to explore the city and accomplish some of their holiday shopping.

After an early four hour bus ride into the city at six in the morning, the journalizers met with the first real-world journalist in the library’s conference room. David Benoit, a financial journalist on Wall Street, met with the staff to describe his daily life in the occupation. After talking for about fifteen minutes, Benoit gave the students time for questions — many students asked questions about Benoit’s experience working on Wall Street while the state of the country’s economy is not doing so well, and others asked questions about the difficulty of breaking into the field of journalism. Benoit answered these questions honestly, and with as much humor as possible (he stated that he knew nothing about economics prior to attaining his job). He also tried to give the students advice on furthering their careers in the field. He gave senior Luke Witherell, Entertainment Editor of the Rebellion, advice on how to make writing less repetitive with articles. Witherell, as well as the rest of the staff, was advised to check out articles by other famous journalists to get ideas with expanding writing horizons.

People Magazine writers Leslie Messer and Kristen Mascia also advised the Rebellion Staff on how to break into the career of Journalism. Messer, who specifies in Entertainment Journalism, gave the students advice on how to get published. “With today’s technology, blogs are a good way to get recognized and get your name out there. You just have to be an expert on what you know,” Messer said. Along with her advice, she gave the journalizers funny little anecdotes about the celebrities she has met through her job at People. One of the funniest celebrity story she shared was one about Snooki, the infamous guidette on the hit MTV Show “The Jersey Shore.” According to Messer, Snooki is everything her TV personality makes her out to be (a complete party-girl) and more. Mascia, who specified in personality features, added to what Leslie told the students with stories of past articles she wrote about extraordinary stories about ordinary people. After she was finished giving the students her own advice, the staff turned their attention to John Cantwell, Mr. Cashman’s old college roommate.

As a freelance writer in the city Cantwell gave the students advice on a different type of journalism than Benoit, Leslie, or Kristen gave. He focused less on how to succeed in journalism, and more on how to fail successfully. He advised the students to focus more on what one likes to do, and less on the amount of money one is going to make in a certain occupation. According to Cantwell “Failures can be considered a success as long as you try.” He even said, “[he’s] a big fan of quitting.” His speech, though it may appeared to discourage the students from the career of journalism with its honesty, he actually gave an sincere view on the career that opened a few minds up to the idea of journalism as a future occupation.

After meeting with the real-world journalists in the New York Public Library, the students visited Rockefeller Center to take a group picture under the famous tree. Lunch was eaten in the Rockefeller Plaza. Then, the students were free to explore 5th Avenue and some of the surrounding streets. The journalizers, along with finding the trip an incredibly fun bonding experience (After eight hours on a bus, who wouldn’t bond?) found the trip extremely beneficial. Hearing what journalists have to say about the occupation’s benefits the students in thinking about their future plans and whether they would further their careers in college.