FRESH
FROM
THE PRESS

By KANIKA FRAZIER
Miami Carol City High School

It started off as 17 strangers thrown together for one week, their lives interrupted by news briefs, phone calls, deadlines and constant pressure.

Alone and confused, the freshly picked aspiring journalists started off the week sitting where they felt most comfortable in the University of Miami News Center: surrounded by 16 computers, television cameras and monitors, they spent the first few days in segregated groups.

The private schools folks sat in one corner -- away from the public school students. The Asians and blacks, in another. But this didn't last very long. Soon, the silence and whispers were overcome by laughter and noise throughought Pentland Hall and movie marathons at Stanford Residential College -- the only place with a television room -- past the 11 p.m curfew.

"It was really weird at first because we all sat where we thought we would fit in," said Breezye Telfair of Hialeah Miami-Lakes High School. "But when you look around, we had unconsciously segregated ourselves."

When the young journalists weren't stressing out over their stories, they spent what little time they had: watching television, talking on the telephone, shooting the breeze or testing out the machinery at the Wellness Center.

And then there were the crank callers, the most famous of whom were the threesome in Room 209, who were the last to go to sleep and the last to wake up.

"So who's the hot guy on the 10th floor?" one anonymous caller asked.

And then there were the personalities.

From Jacquie (our reporter loan from The Miami Herald) the hacker, to Rebeccah Alojado, our ulcer-toting photographer, to Scott Clarke, the staunch 'anti-anything that's liberal,' to Kanika Frazier, begging before curfew, "Can I use your phone?"

Let's not forget Cheryl, who has become known as the closet conversationist. Or the love birds, Richard Vega and Yanely Cordero.

To better prepare theselves, the students devoted numerous hours to attending workshops. The result: little to no sleep, plenty of criticism ("Show me, don't tell me") and little patience.

It didn't matter whose room they were in -- they visited everyone -- but the Asian clique, also known as the Joy Luck Club, was always together.

Best characteristics:

* Non-meat eating, but swearing they weren't vegetarians.

* Two girls and a guy.

* Late arrivals

* Curfew breakers: Richard, Ana-Christina and Yanely. Joined at the hip as a clan of three.

Nicknames:

* Bomquisha

* Shananae "Kanika"

* Dalmatian "Shira Lasoff"

Among the most memorable moments: When Shananae "Kanika" was caught red-handed leaving the cafeteria with a napkin basket in her hand, trying to sneak out of the back door.

Keeping everyone in check -- or so she thought: Sherica Bryan. Sets a curfew but is asleep before 11 p.m.

It "be" the quiet ones. Conservative by day, freak by night, catch her in her work-out clothes or in front of a boy and take notes.

They all survived and they all managed to work together, better than they did on the first day. Their best test at working together: ordering three pizzas from Papa John's. Fourteen hungry journalists and it was past 11:30 p.m. The pizza was an hour late.

Proving that she had learned one of journalism's first rules, "the need to be assertive," Kanika with her growling stomach called Papa John's and demanded they be charged only for two of the three pizzas. Papa obliged -- talk about getting the job done.

From visiting tattoo parlors to sitting on the telephone for hours trying to get a quote to trekking in the dark from the dorm to the newsroom, this group defined commitment.

The lesson learned, besides reporting and writing, is that when in a new environment, one must learn how to adjust. So was the case June 21-28, when 17 aspiring journalists from Dade and Broward, public and private schools, came together to produce a quality newspaper on "Children in the '90s."

"I wasn't use to seeing stories edited eight to nine times by five different people," said Telfair of Hialeah-Miami Lakes. "Surprisingly, each time there were new corrections."

With a series of workshops, these students learned how to improve their use of sources, how

to ask questions, work the phones and take notes. This session was led by Shirley Yaskin , journalism teacher at Palmetto High.

Many of the students will further their experience by interning at The Miami Herald's Neighbors offices in Miami Lakes, Miami Beach and Kendall. This is to give the interns a taste of what they are expecting in the fall.

"I realized that being a reporter is harder than I thought," said Cecilia Wong of Cooper City High.

These 17 journalists came to the program knowing very little about each other. But toward the end, lasting friendships were made. From having long conversations about their different backgrounds to learning how much they were more alike than different. It was a hands-on experience that is hard to find.

"I think the real fun started when we got to know everyone," said Alessandra Russo of Lourdes Academy.