Alison

Today was exciting yet also extremely long and tiring! The WJMC began the day by listening to the wise words of Chuck Todd and Dean Flagel. Todd gave valuable advice about “showing up” and demonstrating dedication and persistence in the field of journalism while Dean Flagel put all of us college-bound seniors at ease by telling us that standardized test scores don’t matter all that much! Then, we traveled to the Pentagon City Fashion Center where we ate lunch (SUBWAY and STARBUCKS!!!!). For an hour and 15 minutes, it felt like we were back in the real world instead of at an academic conference! The real test of the day, however, came when we arrived at the United States Capitol. We had to face the imposing guards as we passed through security, and then we had to wait for an intensely long time until we could see the movie and go on the tour. We didn’t even get to sit in on the House or Senate! Afterwards, we posed for a group picture in the sweltering heat, got back on the buses, and finally traveled back to the air-conditioned campus!!!! Later, we discovered that we had actually been really lucky! There was a shooting at Capitol Hill shortly after we left. I haven’t heard much information about the unfortunate incident, but I have to admit that it’s really scary!!!

It’s been pretty difficult for me to keep up with the whole blogging thing due to my unfortunate lack of internet access and some apparent glitches with the system, but I’m catching up tonight! Today, we went on a night tour of various D.C. monuments. It was really exciting for me because D.C. is my favorite city (actually, it’s probably my favorite place to be!). Unforuntately, we only actually stopped at 3 monuments. I really wanted to see the Thomas Jeffereson memorial and the World War II memorial. I’ve already seen both of these monments, but they are probably my favorite ones. I guess I’ll just have to come back another time to take another look at these awesom D.C. landmarks.

When rereading a favorite book or watching a film for the second time, we often discover interesting things that we didn’t notice the first time around. Today, I received a simliar vibe when revisiting the Newseum, a gigantic museum that documents the history and development of journalism. It is my second day as a national youth correspondant at the Washington Journalism and Media Conference, and since I spent most of yesterday attempting to find my dorm room and meeting a ton of other students, I hadn’t given much thought to today’s trip. Since my visit to the Newseum last year with a similar journalism program, I had completely forgotten about the profound nature and sheer awesomeness of the place. Additionally, I’d forgotten that there were so many exhibits that I had left undiscovered.

Last year, I spent most of my time watching cheesy Newseum video, staring in awe at the 911 exhibit, and examining the remains of the Berlin Wall. This year, however, I took a second look at some of these exhibits and discovered some new hidden gems. Since I was profoundly impacted by the Berlin Wall exhibit last year, I didn’t really any different feelings this time around. However, the 911 exhibit impacted me in a whole new way. After watching the video about the photojournalist who perished while capturing pictures of the attack, I felt like I could actually relate to those who were directly affected by the tragedy. In addition, I took a look at the Pulitzer Prize winning photos. I had seen several of these pictures before without knowing that they had received this prestigious award. All of the pictures were shocking (most were really, really sad!), and it was really interesting to read the stories behind each photo. The photographer of the 1994 photo, which depicted an emaciated Sudanese child being watched by a hungry vulture, committed suicide several months after taking the picture. Such a fact is horrifying, but it demonstrates the potential power of images and expences.

Alison Silverman has been a staff member at Villa Maria Academy’s Views of Villa for one year. Recently, she was promoted to the position of page editor. In the fall, she will begin her senior year at the academy, which is located in Malvern, Pennsylvania. As well as writing for the newspaper, Alison is actively involved in Villa Maria’s orchestra and string ensemble. She plays the viola in both performance groups. Outside of the academic sphere, Alison practices competitive Irish dancing. She has earned awards at the regoinal and national levels, and she qualified to compete in the 2008 World Irish Dance Championship.
At the current time, Alison is at the Washington Journalism and Media Conference at George Mason University. She aspires to become a political journalist and would love to launch her career by attending a prestigious uiversity in New York City or Washington, D.C.

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