Having a great time

First, I want to introduce myself. My name is Samia Saeed and I am studying at the Al-Imtiaz Academy. This summer, a journalism program was held our school. The aim of this program, designed and taught by Bowdoin College student Ms. Mariya Ilyas, is to teach us journalism and give us an opportunity to practice it.

Thanks to philanthropist Ms. Kathryn Wesserman Davis, this program was made possible for us. Her funds have given us an opportunity to learn journalism and produce our very own newspaper. The funds cover our transportation costs in addition to providing us with laptops and cameras. Because of Ms. Davis, this program is free of cost to every student so the selected students can avail this opportunity without worry of expenditure.

Ms. Mariya is a very good teacher. I like her very much. She delivers every lecture in full detail and makes sure her students understand her. Even though she speaks American English, which is sometimes hard for us to comprehend, she tries to make sure that she speaks slowly. Ms. Mariya’s Urdu vocabulary is small so she uses lots of English words—this helps us improve our English vocabulary.

I am really enjoying this program. I learnt a lot of things that I did not know before. I have learned about journalism, ethical dilemmas, free press, democracy and so many
other things. We also went on field trips that expanded our knowledge about journalism.

On our trip to the radio station, we saw different rooms, such as the studio and booth, of a radio station. We also met with different personalities such as the program interviewer, the control engineer, producer, and the director. We learned that broadcast journalism faces more pressure to be censored than print journalism. Radio Pakistan, whose branch we visited in Abbottabad, is censored media. In other words, the government reviews all shows before they are aired. This trip was very informative and educational.

Then we went to Dawn’s bureau in Islamabad to learn how a newspaper is printed. This was also an educational trip which meant we had to be serious and attentive. Ms. Arifa Noor, the editor that greeted us, gave us a lecture about the history of Dawn and why journalism is important in Pakistan. She told us that Dawn is the oldest newspaper in
Pakistan and that it was published by a Muslim man before the partition between India and Pakistan. Then we went to the printing “factory.” There, we saw how a newspaper comes to life after layout is finalized on the computer. We learned that a newspaper uses only four colors—cyan, magenta, yellow, and key black (CMYK)—to be printed.

In short, I am very thankful to my school, my teacher Ms. Mariya, and Ms. Davis for this wonderful opportunity.

By Samia Saeed