Last summer, senior Mattea Vecera attended the Medill Cherub program, a five-week summer journalism program at Northwestern University. 

Vecera first heard about this program from her mother, who was a graduate of Northwestern in 1994. “That night, I spent hours on their student-made website fascinated by the program and the stories from all the students involved last summer,”explained Vecera.

With only 84 juniors accepted each year, applicants are expected to be ranked at the top of their class, have a letter of recommendation, submit scores from the ACT, SAT, and/or PSAT, have completed their junior year of high school in May or June 2019, and show evidence of a background and interest in journalism.

When Vecera got to Northwestern and started the program, adjusting to the high workload and managing her time was the hardest challenge. 

“The hardest part was trying to manage my time. We were writing articles daily that required me to push myself to limits I didn’t know I could reach. On our second day, we wrote 11 articles,” Vecera said. 

But after Vecera got settled in, she saw the advantages of the intensive program. Vecera got close to her fellow peers and “although we live on opposite sides of the country, we were always together and doing something.”

“I learned so much while I was there. I don’t think there’s one experience that tops them all. I learned how to write all types of articles, explored broadcast, print, and photo journalism, conducted hundreds of interviews (on the phone and in the streets of Evanston), and found my voice as a writer.” she explained. 

Vecera is a regular writer for the NDA Tritonian and a senior this year. She will be pursuing a career in journalism after college and hopes to attend Northwestern for that purpose.. 

If any current junior is interested in the program, you can apply by going to http://cherubs.medill.northwestern.edu/2019/.