By Aubree Clark

Many people went to exciting places this spring break, but students from the Yearbook and Newspaper staffs had the opportunity to travel to two extraordinary places.

A group of seven Yearbook staffers went to New York March 18-25 to take part in a scholastic journalism conference hosted by Columbia University. They spent three days at the conference and another three days sightseeing. Sophomore Nic Landenberger  was really excited to be able to join in this trip.

“The New York trip was awesome. It was so exciting being able to see [the city] when you hear so much about it in movies and stuff,” said Landenberger. The whole group learned a lot about journalism and yearbook in general. For Landenberger,  it was “a good learning experience because [you] get so much information from so many people.”

Through the many classes the Yearbook staff attended there was a lot to learn. Senior Rochele Mac thought she “learned most from the photography class and editing class” because that’s what she takes part in with her yearbook class.

In New York many exciting thing can happen, but Mac’s favorite part was “being able to bond with the staff members that went, and being able to see all the major tourist sites.”

While Yearbook had a blast on the east coast, five Newspaper students went to San Diego April 9-12 for the spring Journalism Education Association national conference. Seniors Caleb Friginal and Kyle Kercheval were ecstatic being so close to Petco Park, where the San Diego Padres play. The two attended a media tour at the stadium and watched the Padres beat the Detroit Tigers April 11.

Senior Kyle Kercheval had an eventful time in San Diego. “The best part of my trip was going to the Padres game and getting autographs from my boy Chase Headley and Jed Gyroko,” Kercheval said. Through all the excitement, he took away a lot from the classes. “Seeing as I want to pursue sports broadcasting as a career, it was great to hear different tips and stories coming straight from people in that industry,” Kercheval said.

“My highlight was touring Petco Park and seeing Chase Headley, Jed Gyroko, and Justin Verlander,” Friginal said. Attending many conference sessions is “a lot of information to take in,” but Friginal mainly “took away that you need to make connections to be successful in this business.”

While the boys had fun at the baseball game, the girls headed over to Balboa Park. “My highlight was Balboa Park. It was so beautiful, and there was so many different interesting places to see and go to,” said junior Taylor Hourigan.

Though both trips sound exciting, there were parts that were not so exciting. In New York the Yearbook group lost someone on the train, but quickly found them. In San Diego, Newspaper students Rachel Pearson and Taylor Hourigan got badly sunburned on the beach.

“It was worth it, though,” said Hourigan. “The beach was so much fun. It was a good way to wrap up the whole trip.”