MCS student learns the ropes of news reporting

A Mount Carmel School student learned the ropes of being a news reporter for a day as part of the Chamber Student Career Exploration Day yesterday.

Eleventh-grader Patricia Macaraig was among the students who were part of the program that serves as “an opportunity for today’s employers to meet tomorrow’s employees and help them explore what opportunities may exist, aside from joining the government payroll or moving off island.”

Macaraig, 15, spent the one-day program with Saipan Tribune reporter Moneth Deposa and attended the Northern Marianas College Start Smart event at the Saipan World Resort Royal Taga Hall and the Saipan Chamber of Commerce membership meeting at the Fiesta Resort and Spa’s Hibiscus Hall.

During both events, Macaraig was introduced to various news sources and got a first-hand experience about a day in the life of a news reporter.

Macaraig, the eldest child of Philippine Consul General Medardo Macaraig and wife Teresa Roselyn Macaraig, takes photos and writes articles for the Mount Carmel School’s official publication, The Round Table.

In an interview, Macaraig revealed how she was encouraged to fill out the application form for the Chamber Student Career Exploration Day. She said she’s always taken an interest in taking pictures.

When she joined The Round Table last school year, she initially started with just taking photos. This year, however, she wrote her first article about the school’s royal court.

“I’m really excited because this is the kind of job I see myself doing—writing and working with my camera. I see myself taking up a course in mass communications when I go to college,” said Macaraig.

After attending two events, Macaraig realized how engaged a reporter can be. “You get busy but it’s worth it,” she said. “It’s something I want to experience as a job.”

Working with an actual reporter, Macaraig said, allowed her to discover how to collect information. She noted that the challenging part of the process would be getting the facts straight and putting them together in a news article.

“Hopefully with this experience, I’ll do a better job in our school paper. I learned the basics,” she added.

Other participants of the Chamber Student Career Exploration Day had the chance to learn more about different businesses and industries such as banking, restaurant, law practice, and hotel management.