Visit to Ann Richards School

This morning I had the pleasure of visiting the yearbook class at Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders.

I talked to the girls about my job as a reporter at the Statesman, explaining the watchdog role of reporters who cover the Texas Capitol and the use of multimedia by newspapers. I also explained how an idea becomes a story and shared with them a recent series of articles I wrote in India about medical tourism (Statesman.com/medicaltourism).

The girls were bright and engaged students who were great listeners and had some good questions for me. They asked me if I've ever been scared before an interview (yes!), how I decide what the beginning of my stories will say and when I knew I wanted to become a journalist. 

Then, it was my turn to ask the girls questions. They told me about their work on the yearbook. This is their school's second year of existence and the first year to have a yearbook class. One of them just finished an article about the significance of best friends.  As for news habits, one girl said she doesn't tune into the news because it's often sad and depressing. 

Thank you to teacher Vilma Cajigas and to the girls of the yearbook class! Here is a picture from my visit. I'm in the back center and Ms. Cajigas is on the right.

- Corrie MacLaggan, reporter, Austin American-Statesman