Earlier in my junior school year, I was nominated for The Washington Journalism & Media Conference.

It was a very competitive process to be accepted. I had to have a good academic standing; with a minimum 3.5 GPA, a demonstrated interest in journalism; and a willingness to represent my school and state as a National Youth Correspondent.

I made it in — weeks before the deadline to apply was up. I was excited and understood what this opportunity could do for my future career as a journalist.

There were two different sessions you could attend, and I chose the second session.

I attended George Mason University on July 16 through 21. I am so glad I chose that week.

They split us into color groups; I was in the purple group. My purple group was the best group and probably the loudest one there.

I was an emotional wreck the night before I left; I think I cried at least three times. I got up on Sunday, July 16, at 4:30 a.m. and got ready for the day. I left my house at 5:30 a.m. for Fairfax, Va. (that is where the college is located). I was not excited to go when the time came. I was homesick as soon as my uncle and grandma dropped me off. I did not cry until later that night. Before you ask, ‘did she cry the whole week?’ I did not.

I was the second correspondent to show up to the conference. The first day I went to my room (that I was going to later on share with three other girls). I made it look like home, so maybe then I would not be so homesick. I got to meet my Faculty Advisor and Junior Faculty Advisor. These people changed my life and made me laugh so hard. My Faculty Advisor was Jess Young and my Junior Faculty Advisor was Angelica Walker.

Young teaches yearbook, journalism, photography, broadcasting and art at Orange Glen High School in Escondido, Calif. She earned her Master’s Degree in Education from San Diego University. She coaches volleyball and runs the new teacher mentoring program at her high school. She is also the President of the San Diego Journalism Education Association and serves on the Board of Directors and Board of Trustees for the Quill and Scroll International Journalism. Many of her students’ work has been shown at Walsworth Idea File and Gallery of Excellence. Young is also a writer for Locale Magazine in San Diego. She owns a small baking business called Bake Me Happy, and makes a ton of cupcakes.

Walker is a WJMC alumni from 2014 who is from Lynchburg, Va. She is a junior at George Mason with a study in Communications. She double minors in Sports Communications and African American Studies. Walker is involved in the Black Student Alliance and Mason Ambassadors. She is also the funniest person I have ever met.

We had a color group meeting to get to know everyone in our group. Young said at the beginning of the meeting, “You will become very close with these people. They will become your best friends for life. They will feel like your family.”

I did not believe her at all, no one did. Boy, was I wrong.

I am a teenage girl; yes, I have a boyfriend. I guess you could call it young love. I called him every night I was away and I told him I wanted to come home. I did not want to be 5-6 hours away from home anymore. I called my grandma and told her the same thing. I guess I was not convincing enough to come home because I stayed the whole week.

The second day we went to the Newseum, World War ll Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, and Korean War Veterans Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial and Vietnam Women’s Memorial.

The Newseum was absolutely beautiful. It amazes me how many journalists are tortured, kidnapped and or killed for just doing their job. I learned repetitively that journalism is not a crime. I also learned that we have rights and to not let anyone take them away and never stop writing the truth. The memorials were breathtakingly beautiful. We walked eight miles that day. I was so sore I could barely walk at the end of the day. I started becoming close with a few of the girls in my purple group — Alyx Peloquin from New Jersey, Maya Wernick from California, and Zabrina Yannella from Michigan. These girls became my best friends in such a short amount of time. Maybe Jess was right after all.

On Tuesday, we attended The National Press Club. I am not going to lie, I “fangirled” when we went into The National Press Club. It is almost every journalist’s dream to enter the club. When we went there the Swiss Delegate was meeting there so we had to be extra quiet. We listened to the founder of C-SPAN, Brian Lamb, speak, and Terry and Salome Anderson. Lamb talked a lot about politics and pinned us against each other to see who was the better party — Democratic or Republican? A majority of the aspiring journalists there were shown as Democrats. One correspondent said, “We cannot assume Trump with the word honesty.” The whole place erupted into cheers and clapping.

We previously had a speaker, Mike Shears from the New York Times. He asked us if we thought that The White House should take away press briefings from the public. Some correspondents agreed. Others did not. The correspondents that did agree said the press did not need to keep asking questions about Russia, his administration team or CNN being “fake news.” One correspondent stood up and said, “You are the president of a democracy, you do not get to pick and choose what First Amendment rights that press gets to have.” Another correspondent stated, “You are the President of the United States, you do not get to choose what questions you get to answer and do not answer.” I highly agree with both of the statements.

On Wednesday, the whole day was filled with speakers. Carol Guzy was scheduled to talk with us, but she was on an assignment in Iraq. We also listened to Meghan ATB Reese. She took all of our pictures throughout the week. She has produced and written for National Geographic, Discovery Channel and the Travel Channel. Reese has taken pictures for the National Park Service, the White House, George Mason University and other many businesses. Reese has covered major news events, including the 2008 presidential election, the passing of Senator Ted Kennedy and Boston’s Craigslist killer. She was executive editor of Today’s Dietitian cookbook. Reese holds a journalism degree from American University. She held several internships around the Metro area, including The Washington, CNN, NPR and at the White House.

We had breakout sessions later that night and I went to one with Sarah Westwood who is a White House correspondent. Westwood works for the Washington Examiner. She previously covered local government for the Marietta Daily Journal. She appears on Fox News, Fox Business, CNN, WMAL’s “Mornings on the Mall, WTOP News and many talk radio programs in Washington.

On Thursday, we had options to explore around the National Mall. I went to the Holocaust Museum. It was so breathtaking to see. I walked around with my friend Machiah Lynch from Florida. I saw an old train car with the bloody handprints and all the shoes from the people who were killed. Some artifacts were harder to see than others. It is a place that I cannot put into words. It is a place you would have to see for yourself. I have always wanted to visit the museum. It is so beautiful.

Friday, July 21 ended my journalism experience at such a high level. I learned so much that will continue to help me grow as an individual and a journalist. I made friends that will last me a lifetime. It was definitely an experience that I will never let go and cherish. I would love to go back to everyone and listen to everyone over again and catch things I missed.

Thank you to my English teachers from every year in grade school, Mrs. Amy Eaton, my family and friends, anyone who donated money to make it possible for me to experience how it truly is to be a journalist, Elena Johnson for accepting me into the program, Ed Zieralski, and the Times Observer staff for this job. Thank you all for believing in me.

“Journalism is one of the toughest jobs and a lot of people are trying to stop you; do not let them.”

Madison is a senior at Warren Area High School and an aspiring journalist.