Florida Atlantic University's first student-run news source.

UNIVERSITY PRESS

Florida Atlantic University's first student-run news source.

UNIVERSITY PRESS

Florida Atlantic University's first student-run news source.

UNIVERSITY PRESS

Young writers show off their skills with the help of UP staffers

Editor-in-Chief Vanessa Frost, Entertainment Editor Corinne Pariante and Distribution Manager Scott Tillman took some time away from working on the UP to visit students at PBCC’s Summer Youth College. This program introduces kids to a plethera of subjects from being a savvy citizen to making a comic book. Frost, Pariante and Tillman jumped at the chance to teach the kids about journalism and how to conduct an interview. The day ended with the kids getting to interview the staff members and then write articles about them. Here’s what they had to say:

Vanessa is a nice person. She has a 26 year old sister. Her hobbies are swimming and writing. Vanessa loves playing with her dog, but her favorite animal is a cat.

When Vanessa was a child she wanted to be a animal trainer. When she grew up she had to quit because there was too much math and she didn’t like math. Vanessa’s favorite subject is writing plus she works with 20 other people.

— Jesse Alba, age 10

Who is Vanessa Frost, well she is 22 years old. She has three best friends, Scott Tillman, Corinne Pariante, and her husband. Vanessa works with Corinne Pariante and 20 more people.

Sunday morning or Saturday night they have church. She only wears dresses in church.

If you like cats Vanessa does too, she actually has two cats. Her favorite movie is “Finding Nemo” because she loves fish.

She works in the FAU. She has one big sister, she is 27 years old. Her mom wanted her to be a person who takes care of pets. Her dad wanted her to be a journalist like she is now.

If you were 13 than you probably saw Vanessa, when she was 13 she went to Deerfield Beach.That is a good life of Vanessa Frost. She loves her college and husband and friends. She is a nice person.

— Natali Marrou, age 10

Vanessa Frost is from Illinois. She has been writing since she was 10 years old. She has been in the business for two years. Her father was a writer. I think it is interesting that she took after her father. I think Vanessa is smart because she goes to college. I know when you get a good education you also get a good job in the future. Vanessa has inspired me to write much more. Vanessa likes to wear sandals. When she went to school back then she had no straps so she would get detention. Her favorite movie is “Finding Nemo.” Her favorite actor is John Travolta. Her favorite hockey team is the Florida Panthers. It was fun interviewing Vanessa Frost.

— Jonathan Spada, age 10

Who is Vanessa Frost and what do we really know about her? Vanessa Frost is a senior college student here at FAU. Some of her classes include journalism and jazz history. She is also on the FAU newspaper called University Press. This is her first real writing job. She writes about people at FAU. She works on the paper at home and at school in her office. She’s on the paper because her dad was a writer and inspired her to be one too! “I love to be a writer; it’s a good way to express yourself and it’s fun!” says the 22-year-old Vanessa Frost. Although being on the paper might be fun, it’s very busy. When Vanessa graduates from college she’s going to write for magazines.

Vanessa has a husband named Ian. She has one sister named Jennifer who is 27. Her hobbies include swimming, writing poetry and little stories, and playing with her dog. She takes after her dad and is not fashionable at all. She usually just throws on a T-shirt and some jeans. Her favorite movie is “Finding Nemo” and her favorite TV show is “Friends.” This girl is a true writer! Doesn’t she sound like it? Not only does she have great writing talent but she shares if with other people by writing in the paper. Vanessa inspires younger kids to write. Her advice when you’re in college: “Be careful, stay true to yourself, and be the best you can!”

— Rita Boley, age 9

I was freezing in the Mod. I felt like ice. Then a writer came in. Her name was Corinne Pariante. She was wearing a shirt and long jeans. She has brown hair and brown eyes. She had a lot of pets. She had a puppy, a German Shepherd, a sea monkey, and fish. They all, however, died. She then got a hamster. She had to find a place to put the cage, so she gave it to her friend. Her friend went on a trip. At the pit stop, the hamster ran away. Corinne Pariante has an older sister, younger sister, and two younger brothers. She is eighteen. Her favorite color is red.

— Carlton E.I. Christian, Jr., age 9

Corinne is a very interesting and hard worker. She once had a puppy, sea monkeys, crabs, fish, and hamsters, but all died. She wrote confessional poetry in high school. She got started when her sister went to a writing class. She didn’t like it but she said that Corinne work like it, and she did! She used to live in Queens, New York. She plays Runescape. She spends most of her time with her friends.

— Aryeh Goldman, age 10 1/2

FAU came to PBCC and Vanessa Frost, Scott and Corinne came to visit us in mod 6. Vanessa Frost has worked there for 2 years, she attends FAU. She was born in Illinois, she is married and is the supervisor of Scott and Corinne as well as many others. Vanessa has one sister Jennifer, who is 27. Her dog’s name is Storm.

Scott is 20 years of age and he takes pictures for the newspaper. He has three pets, a fish, an iguana, a snake and also a lovely sister named Leslie.

Corinne broke a candle holder. It takes them two weeks to write an issue.

— Aryn Lee, age 10

It’s journalist time in Mod 6. My head hurts and I am distracted. How do I concentrate on interviewing someone when my head hurts?

Moving our desks into circles. “Mooooove!” the teacher grunts, pulling my sister’s desk into the circle. “Let’s get more intimate!”

I am uncomfortable. I can’t concentrate.

Corinne is speaking very quickly about some editing process. Very quickly and quietly, like it’s some sort of secret. It will always remain a secret to me.

Her name is Corinne Pariante. It’s Italian, she says. I took Italian 1 last year, and I wonder it I’m supposed to pronounce her name in the Italian way: Ka-rrrreen-ay Parrrr-ee-aunt-ay. No. It’s just Karin.

I pull my desk closer because I can’t hear. I can’t hear and I can’t concentrate. There are the sounds of Vanessa answering the other group’s questions, and the sound of kids talking. It’s a mild form of chaos and it’s distracting me form the task at hand.

I force myself to concentrate. Do not pay attention to the distractions, Jamie, I think. “They are evil.”

Corinne. Corinne. I’m supposed to be interviewing her. I ask her a few questions. Where did you go to high school? Do you write fiction? Random facts, like this.

I like the color of her sneakers. Yellow brown with white stripes up the side. My mom wouldn’t let me wear them. Not unless I was wearing a shirt with exactly the same shade of yellow-gold.

I like the gray-blue-greenness of her pants. Nice and cool. The color draws the eye. And the black lace shirt is lovely. I wish I had outfits like those. I wish I was brave enough to wear outfits like those.

Her hands move around a lot as she speaks. She says people say it’s because she’s Italian. I don’t know if I believe that. There are lots of people whose hands move that aren’t’ Italian. Also, I am Italian, and my hands don’t move at all. Unless they do it without me knowing.

If this interview were taped, everything would be so much easier. I am not going to write up everything she says. I can’t write that fast. But everyone is going on about those “juicy bits.” I’ll make them responsible for those. They can write the juicy bits. It’s easier to be descriptive.

Ooh, look. Vanessa is moving her hands around! And she is (probably) not Italian. That proves that your ethnicity has absolutely nothing to do with whether you move your hands around as you talk.

I don’t want to be doing this. I want to be writing my story. I’ve been interrupted enough already.

She is listing her best friends. How lovely. At least she has best friends. All my best friends I have not seen for four weeks, since school ended.You know what? I cannot write an article about someone else right now. I’m too obsessed with myself. I have a lot of problems.

Yeah. So. It’s over, I guess. I don’t have anything to say, plus it is due. They are going to edit a whole bunch anyway; I may as well end it here.

— Jamie Lee Jacobs, age 14

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