ThreeSixty reporters experience one-day deadline during field trip to the Minnesota State Fair

Friday, Aug. 27, ThreeSixty journalists covered the fair like the real reporters some of us hope to become someday. Our not-so-secret mission? Find a story. We were given no handouts, no freebies, and no already-supplied contacts; we were on our own. Mostly. We split into pairs, so we had our partners, at the very least.

Our goal was to find something interesting to the readers of the ThreeSixty magazine, our fellow teens. I and my partner, Janelle, hit the jackpot, in my opinion, with finding the robotics demonstrations in the Education building. I found it really interesting since I’m a teen and teens were participating in the demonstrations. I thought the story ‘fit the bill,’ as they say.

After Janelle and I interviewed who we thought to be anyone and everyone remotely involved with the story, we ate fair food. My frozen chocolate covered banana and corn on the cob were scrumptious. My only regret is not having enough time for cheese curds. However, I feel that even if I had eaten the top 10 fattiest foods at the fair, I would’ve walked off every one of those calories that day. It was exhausting.

Once we got back to St. Thomas, or as I like to call it, ‘headquarters’, we got to sit down, but then the real work began.

We reviewed our notes, came up with a focus, lead, structure, kicker, and all the rest of that journalistic lingo having to do with writing the articles. It was hard work, but fun work.

In the end, Janelle and I both felt we had something to be really proud of. I slept very soundly that night.

— Erika Roedl, editorial board member