Like it or not, the time for doing senior projects is finally here

"Senior Project" is a phrase all high school students dread to hear - the project that determines whether you will graduate.

From your first day of school, your English classes prepare you for the work that will go into your project.

You are taught how write a proper essay, and in your junior year, you are given a smaller research paper as practice for the upcoming project.

My name is Kelsey Anderson. I am a 17-year-old senior attending Carson High School. For my senior project, I decided to do something that would be fun to me, instead of something I would dread doing.

Journalism has always been an interest of mine and something I would like to pursue as a career.

So doing a research paper and project on journalism may put me ahead in the journalism school I choose to attend.

For the research paper, you must have five to eight pages of information on a topic linked to your actual project.

My paper will be on the history and controversy of journalism. For instance, how newspapers started and how corporations owning more than one paper may reflect what stories are put in the paper.

I would also like to discuss something about integrity and how some journalists have been known to put a slight spin on what they write.

Then I will briefly discuss the competition that has arisen with television and the Internet, and whether these are faster or more accurate ways to receive your daily news.

I have taken a media class in which I have gained some knowledge on the beginnings of journalism, controversies that have arisen and competition.

My project will be to have several articles published in the Nevada Appeal, which I have researched, interviewed for, and written myself.

In preparation of the project portion, I have been working on my school's newspaper, Senator News.

I have written articles on several different topics and have a basic understanding of how a newspaper runs.

I have also become an intern at the Appeal, which also allows me to complete the required hours I must spend on this project and prove that it was indeed completed by myself.

I would also like to spend some time at a broadcast station, in which I will be able to clearly see the difference in the two forms of journalism.

For everything done on a senior project, documentation must be made and hours must be logged. Mentors must sign off the things you have completed and pictures taken as evidence of your work.

So in the next few issues, you will probably be seeing some articles that I have written.

n Contact Kelsey Anderson at moneill@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1219.