La Cueva alum describes her experiences learning journalism

When I was in high school at La Cueva, I didn’t have the typical entry point into journalism. There was no school newspaper, but I still wanted to find a way to explore journalism.

It felt like a long shot, but I drafted an email to Patrick Ethridge, the executive editor at the Journal, explaining my interest in journalism and my hope to intern here. I wasn’t sure what to expect, if anything at all. I knew the Journal was a serious operation, and I was just a high school student with more enthusiasm than experience. But to my surprise and relief, he responded enthusiastically, inviting me to come in and talk about how I could contribute.

That “yes” was the start of an experience that has shaped my understanding of journalism and solidified my passion for the field. As I prepare to leave for college, I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity the Journal gave me. It’s not every day that a teenager gets an opportunity like this, and it’s an experience I’ll carry with me as I head into college.

One of my first assignments was to interview a group of girls on the robotics team at Explora. That first interview wasn’t perfect; I stumbled over some of my words, and there were moments where I felt like I couldn’t form the right questions.

When I was writing the robotics story after the interview, Matt Narvaiz, one of the business reporters, took the time to teach me how to write a good intro to an article. He sat and talked to me about writing in an “inverted pyramid” style, putting the 5 Ws (who, what, when, where and why) and the most newsworthy information first, and then details and background info.

What really made my experience special here were moments like that, where people would go out of their way to guide me. The reporters at the Journal aren’t just good at what they do, they’re passionate about it, and it’s why they guided me through the process of writing a story and challenged me to think deeper about the stories I was working on.

With that help and experience, I started to get a little better. I learned to prepare more thoroughly, think about the angles that would make the story interesting and be more confident in my interactions.

My favorite story I worked on was about why Texans had been moving to New Mexico more than people from other states. This story felt especially rewarding to me because it was the first story where I really got to connect with a wide range of people. I interviewed new residents who shared their excitement about settling into their new homes, as well as longtime New Mexicans who had been calling the state home for a while.

The experience of hearing different perspectives and understanding the various motivations behind people’s decisions gave me a deeper appreciation for the role of journalism in capturing a full and accurate picture. This experience, among others, taught me that good journalism is about more than just telling a story — it’s about telling it right.

To any teenager who’s curious about journalism, I’d say go for it. Step into that newsroom, even if it feels a little scary, because I promise, it’s worth it. You’ll learn so much more than just how to write a good article. You’ll learn about people, about life, and about yourself.