Denver

Wow, did I have a good time in Denver! The journalism program I was there for was very small, only 14 participants and six staff members from the Society of Professional Journalists.

There were three of us from BYU: Emma, Grace and me, so it was nice to have a de facto group to hang out with if needed, but the truth is I hardly needed it at all. I made friends not only with the five other student journalists, all three of us made friends with the six pros!

I made a lot of great memories and have tons of stories from the weekend, but in the interest of keeping your interest I'll stick with my favorite story.

Classes on Saturday ended at 5:30 p.m. The SPJ gave us the evening off to venture through Denver. As Tara (one of the teachers) prepared to release us, she asked if anyone had any plans. I thought to myself, Emma and Grace and I have plans, and stood up.

"We're going to go to Writers Square, a candy shop and a Vietnamese restaurant for dinner. You're welcome to come with us."

Everyone stared at me. You could have heard crickets chirping in the silence. Wow, now everyone thinks we're lame, I thought as I sat back down.

Tara glanced around. "Anyone else? No? Well, we are ready to unleash you on Denver."

As soon as she said that, a bunch of people came over to us and asked when and where we were meeting to go to Writers Square and the candy store. I was amazed and flattered. All the pros (except the staff) wanted to hang out with us! We ended up with almost everyone at the program.

I had a blast!