It’s hard to believe I’ve completed my first week at Annenberg Youth Academy! In the past few days, I’ve grown so much in my understanding of civic engagement and journalism. On Monday my cohort and I were warmly welcomed by the AYA staff and professors and officially became a part of the USC family. Here are some highlights from the week!
One lecture I found extremely interesting happened in my communications class. We were learning about how different generations have tackled the idea of civic engagement. In the past, people would participate in a formal manner, which meant they would directly interact with the state. Voting would be a prime example of formal participation. Today, there is a dramatic decrease in voters with the younger generation. While many people would assume civic engagement has thus decreased as well, that is not true. Another way of being a part of public life would include informal participation. Although it is not as favorably looked upon, informal participation, which means relying on a collective of people to solve a problem rather than the state, is increasing among young adults today. For instance, activism on social media would be an expression of informal participation. What I found interesting about this concept is that the younger generation is still interested in sharing their voice– even if it looks different than it did in the past.
Typically, every day after our communications class AYA invites a guest speaker to come and share about their field of study, especially when it relates to civic engagement and media. My favorite speaker so far has been Melanie Cherry, who presented her job in public relations. I had not been familiar with what PR was prior to AYA. Ms.Cherry described it as, “the communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships.” I was intrigued by the fascinating real-world examples she gave us. Furthermore, I did not realize how many careers there were in the PR field. One thing that I really like about AYA is that we are introduced to many career paths that we may have not known before. My eyes were opened to see that jobs are not “black and white” but that there are cross-overs and many options to choose from!
Finally, during one of our field trips, we visited Little Tokyo and toured the Japanese American National Museum (JANM). Although my family has a deep history in Little Tokyo and I am a member of the JANM, the tour and the short film we watched were very impactful. Both of my grandparents were in the concentration camps when they were children. However because they both passed away when I was young, I could never ask them about their experience at Poston. While I was at the JANM I interacted with Sharleen, one of the volunteers, who happened to be one of my grandmother’s best friends. Through that experience, I learned more about my heritage and my grandparents. Also, now my dad and I are hoping to interview Sharleen later this summer. I’m thankful to have gone to the JANM with my fellow classmates. I found myself proud of my Japanese culture and eager to share about it.
Communicating Change 