The Black and White

by Kaitlyn Limoges

Recently, an exciting opportunity came around for a small group of high school students who are getting an inside look at political journalism through a program hosted by the Brown Political Review. Pilgrim High School senior Bridget Pouliot is one of 10 students from around the country selected to participate in this great program run by student editors of Brown University.  This program gives high school students the chance to develop their skills in political opinion writing over the course of three months. 

The ten selected students are assigned to an experienced editor that will offer the students one to one feedback and guidance as they develop their writing. While two main editors run this program, many others who have the same passion help to refine the students’ writing. The main focus is to show students what the world of political journalism is like, while building their confidence in writing a well researched and formatted opinion piece. 

For some students this is more than just an experience as they will write about deeper topics that hit close to home. Bridget says “My article is going to be about DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) and will take a personal/anecdotal approach, along with discussing stories from other disabled people, statistics about discrimination, and current executive orders/debates surrounding the topic.” Bridget has worked very hard thus far as she has already submitted her article pitch from her last meeting and will have an outline done for their next online meeting with the editors Sunday, October 19th. They look to have their articles done by November 23rd at which time it will be published on the Brown Political Review (BPR) website. 

Bridget, who has had experience writing newspaper articles for a long time, shared her motivation for applying to the program, “The reason I chose to apply is mostly because I really enjoy journalism. In college, I plan to double major in music and communications (with a journalism concentration). I love writing contests and programs — I have entered a lot — and I have written newspaper stories since 8th grade; it’s definitely one of my favorite genres, so the idea of getting not only a really deep and educating experience/guidance from kids at Brown who are doing this past high school, but also getting feedback and to work with them on my own article that will get published is so incredible to me.” 

As the program continues, Bridget looks forward to sharing her voice through her article and continuing on her writing journey with passion, confidence, and dedication. This is a major accomplishment in her writing journey and her future looks very bright. Congratulations Bridget!!