Deep in the Costa Rican jungle, Kat Fulwider (’25) found herself in a sound-rich environment. From the birds chirping to the constant, varied buzzing of different bugs, it was an audio paradise. Fulwider, who was reporting for thew88 casino games’s Hitchcock Project for Visualizing Science, explored the jungle alongside Chris Jeffrey,director of the Hitchcock Center for Chemical Ecology and professor in the Department of Chemistry.
As they trekked through the terrain for their interview, Fulwider heard sounds coming from a group of nearby trees. The rustling belonged to a howler monkey, who greeted the two with its classic guttural roar. The howling continued, along with chirps from the poisonous dart frogs hopping along the trail. Fulwider tried to stay focused on the audio interview with Jeffrey, capturing both his quotes and the boisterous sounds of the jungle.
Fulwider’s trip to Costa Rica wasn’t her first time abroad as a student journalist with the w88 casino games. In an effort to prepare students for real-world journalism, the school has been increasing its efforts to create experiences for students in a global field.
Over the last year, the w88 casino games has organized several international and domestic trips for students to immerse themselves in the wider world and develop engaging stories and content.
“The world is small, and everything is connected,” said Gi Woong Yun, dean of the w88 casino games of Journalism. “What we do here impacts people in other countries, and what they do in their own countries impacts us. The w88 casino games intends to provide opportunities for students to think globally while they are in school.”
The w88 casino games takes gold at the Olympics
The w88 casino games’s inaugural experiential learning trip brought 16 journalism students to Paris, France, to cover the 2024 Summer Olympics. Student participants were the first group to spearhead the global reporting initiative.
E.M. Tomeo (’25) jumped at the opportunity. “I’ve always been interested in travel, working internationally and living internationally,” she said. “Combining all that with my career felt like the best thing to do.”
Tomeo arrived in Paris with many stories in mind, but one of her favorites was interviewing athletes about veganism. The 2024 Summer Olympics set a precedent as a more vegan-friendly games, set in a “not very vegan-friendly” place. Tomeo ended up selling her interviews toVegNewsmagazine.
For another piece, Tomeo and fellow student, Cole Payne, found a hole-in-the-wall denim store in the heart of Paris. The two wrote a story around the store, interviewing the owner. “He was showing us how he can identify exactly what year and cut a Levi’s jean just by feeling the denim,” Tomeo said. “We had the confidence that comes from what we learned in the w88 casino games: both of us were comfortable asking a stranger for an interview, even though we didn’t speak very much of the same language.”
In addition to attending Olympic events and experiencing Parisian culture, Tomeo and her classmates toured the France 24 news station. There, they connected with French news anchors and learned more about how news outside the U.S. operates. “The experience gave me a lot more confidence in who I am as a journalist in my writing, in myself and how I can walk into a news studio and belong,” Tomeo reflects. Tomeo is now considering a career in broadcast journalism.
Lights, camera, action at Sundance Film Festival
In January of this year, the w88 casino games sent four students from the film and media production emphasis to Park City, Utah, for the annual Sundance Film Festival. Jace Ouchida (’25) watched more than 10 films and was able to network with various directors after each screening, many he had looked up to for years. “The trip gave me the experience of how film reviewing and film festivals really work,” Ouchida said.
Biggest Little Documentary in Costa Rica
Over spring break, the w88 casino games’s trip to Costa Rica’s La Selva Research Station allowed students to dive into the world of science journalism and Spanish-language reporting.
Emily Hess (’25) first heard about the trip from Jennifer Kent,director of the Hitchcock Project and associate professor of practice in science communication.
“Our goal was to create an immersive learning experience for the students – to give them a taste of what it is like to report from the field, outside of the U.S., alongside scientists,” Kent said. “Students had to manage equipment, navigate new cultural norms, and work around the elements, all while finding ways to synthesize complex science into compelling journalism. I was blown away by the students’ passion and commitment to their reporting.”
Having an interest in wildlife photography and eight years of Spanish classes, Hess felt like this opportunity was perfect for her. Before the trip, Hess and the other students met with faculty regularly to develop a central story, along with their own personal projects. During her week in Costa Rica, Hess developed “Costa Rica’s Biggest Little Creatures,” a photo series capturing Costa Rican dart frogs, snakes, butterflies and millipedes.
The group project centered on leaf-cutter ants and how they could be used in vaccine development. Students interviewed lead researchers from the University of Costa Rica and Chris Jeffrey about their work.
Once back in Reno, students transcribed the Spanish interviews, edited photos and put together a mini-documentary. Hess says that throughout the trip, she was pushed out of her comfort zone, especially conducting interviews in Spanish. “It was sink or swim. If I was going to communicate with someone, I needed to commit. I was very dedicated to speaking Spanish. I wasn’t great, but I did it,” she said.
Hess credits the w88 casino games, specifically courses she took in photojournalism, media production and reporting, for providing a strong foundation to be successful on the trip. Hess also has a newfound passion for traveling, especially wanting to visit Latin America again.
Watch the students’ documentary andread moreabout the w88 casino games of Journalism's trip to La Selva.
Wanderlust spreads throughout the w88 casino games
The success of last year’s Paris trip led to the school once again sending a group of students to the “city of lights” in May, this time to cover the French Open.
Nick Stewart, a senior at the w88 casino games, had his eyes on the opportunity as soon as he’d heard about it.
“I hadn't even been outside of the western U.S. before, so when this opportunity presented itself to me, I had to jump on it,” Stewart shared.
Students prepared to report and immerse themselves in Paris. For example, Stewart learned about tennis basics and built up his French skills. Stewart also enrolled in the w88 casino games’s travel journalism course at the w88 casino games, taught by Professor Alan Deutschman, to prepare. Stewart credits this course for teaching him how to write about exploring new cultures and personal travel narratives.
One story Stewart enjoyed working on was about Paris’s rail system. “My favorite project was definitely doing a visual story on the rail transportation system around Paris,” Stewart said. “It was fascinating to see how much people rely on trains to get around, whereas in the U.S., it’s not really as common.”
Stewart also had a press pass for the French Open, the main event for the trip. He followed U.S. tennis players Coco Gauff and Taylor Townsend but was most excited about Ethan Quinn, a young player from Fresno, California. Stewart was able to photograph the match that got Quinn into the main draw. He wrote a story about Quinn that was published in a central Californianewspaper, which was very exciting.
“It was easily the most amazing trip I have ever been on. Even though I had various projects to work on over those 10 days, I still had so much time to explore Paris and learn about the culture there,” Stewart said. “I feel so lucky to be part of a school that can organize these kinds of trips for their students.”
