Kayla Moore ’26
Over the summer holiday, I travelled to New York City (NYC) to learn more about The New York Times and what it takes to be a journalist through a summer program. The School of the New York Times ran the program in collaboration with Fordham University, where the students lived for two weeks. I chose to take the “Writing the Big City” course taught by a religious fashion reporter and a natural disasters reporter (both from The New York Times). My program focused on reporting issues important to local New Yorkers and uncovering untold stories hidden in the city. We began the course by reviewing the basics of journalistic writing and reporting; then, we ventured out. To defeat our fears of interviewing strangers, we went straight to Chelsea Market and interviewed the owners of food vendors. My group reported on an Indian street food vendor and was able to interview the owner-chef and try delicious Indian street food for free! During the program, book authors, The New York Times journalists and marketing specialists spoke to us, making it clear that journalism is all around us, whether we are aware of it or not. We later went on a tour of the Lower East Side of NYC led by a history student from Columbia University; I loved being able to see all the utopia of culture from the past and travel through Chinatown, Little Italy, and The Bowery Electric, where we met the owner and listened to her stories of hosting thousands of famous singers and bands. Through The School of The New York Times, I was able to meet amazing journalists and professionals in the field, make friends interested in pursuing journalism and experience the Big Apple independently.
Amalia Rosen ’27
Over the summer, I spent four weeks on the Upper West Side of New York City, taking journalism classes with the School of The New York Times. On June 20, I moved into room 13-08 at Fordham University’s West Campus (where the program was run), ready to begin the next month of classes.
For the first two weeks, I took an Investigative Journalism class, taught by two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and The New York Times Journalist Steve Eder. Throughout the class, we visited the building of The New York Times and its archive, which lies underground, weighing 700,000 pounds and containing every story, photo, or more that The New York Times has ever released. The room was filled with so much fascinating history, and it was my favorite part of the class. We also practiced going up to people in Penn Station to interview them. By the end of the class, my friend and I worked together to create a lengthy proposal for an investigative report, which looked at the relationships between young shooters and the family members who aid them.
For the next two weeks, I took a class called Reporting on Fashion and Style with Faran Krentcil, the founder of the fashion news site, “Fashionista.” We talked to specialists in styling, photography, and fashion writing, and visited the Metropolitan Museum as well as the Cosmopolitan building. Classes ran from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., broke for lunch, and then resumed from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
After classes were done for the day, I would typically go to the cafe down the corner (Aroma Café – amazing lattes) and finish homework before going back to my dorm. Often, I would walk to Central Park with my friends, play music, and share a pizza. We lived right next to Lincoln Center, so on our way back, we stopped by and got to enjoy a free concert! Overall, I had a super positive experience and would highly recommend the school.
Jackson Pick ’26
I came into my two weeks at the School of The New York Times with high hopes for the program — and those hopes were solidly met. I took a course on Reporting on Politics, Public Policy and Activism in order to improve my writing on current events specifically. The timing for my stay during the second session was ideal, too: the high-stakes Democratic primary for New York City mayor occurred during the first week, and it provided an ideal launchpad for the course.
Our instructor was The New York Times Reporter Tracey Tulley, who covers the New Jersey beat for the newspaper. Her knowledge both in the field and in writing was of great help in improving as journalists, and her connections helped set up guest visits with Jersey City mayoral candidate Mussab Ali and New York Daily News Reporter Kerry Burke. The course was intended for a mix of beginner and non-beginner journalists, so it wasn’t comprehensive, but the level of intensity varies by course, and, in my case, it allowed for a good balance between the course and the experience.
Living in the city itself was amazing, and there were so many great places to visit and restaurants to dine at with friends. All in all, I enjoyed my time at the School of The New York Times, and if you’re interested in journalism (even if you’ve never done it before), I’d recommend looking into it for a summer program to see if it’s a good fit for you.
