Day Three - Interviewing a Professional Athlete and a Journalist

Today in the camp we had two guests - Bruce Harper, who was a running back for the New York Jets, and Jenny Vrentas, who is the new Jets beat reporter for the Newark Star Ledger. Jenny asked Bruce questions about this year's Jets roster, his playing days, and what he has been doing since he retired.



Students asked questions during the general question and answer period, and then interviewed the athletes 'locker room' style. The students, as reporters, had to listen to other questions being asked while trying to get their questions in. Students asked Bruce follow-up questions about his injuries, and what he is doing now. He spoke about his program Heroes and Cool Kids (http://www.heroesandcoolkids.org/), a program in which current and former professional athletes train high school students to mentor middle school students on important life skills (e.g., sportsmanship, conflict resolution and positive lifestyle choices)



The students were interested in Jenny's experience working in different forms of journalism, and how she moved from being a biochemistry major to working as a writer.



Jenny stressed that students who are interested in a career as a journalist should take every opportunity they have to write and be involved in the field. She worked on her college newspaper, and suggested students can write for their high school papers.



Students' questions were a mix of personal interest, sports specific analysis, and thoughts about writing as a career. This is the third year Jenny has worked with Write on Sports, and each year she brings a lot of insight and candor about the life of a sportswriter. She started as a sports blogger (for the Star Ledger) and is still involved in new media. Here is the address for her twitter feed http://twitter.com/jennyvrentas