With hopes of making it big in the journalism field one day,  first-year The Pearl Post staff writer Itzel Luna has made a small step toward this goal upon winning the Jolene Combs Memorial Scholarship.

“I hope to gain experience and learn a lot,” said  Luna, a sophomore. “Since I will be surrounded by students who are interested in journalism as well, I hope to learn from them and work with them.”

Luna received the scholarship by the Southern California Journalism Education Association (SCJEA) at the SCJEA state write-off at Long Beach City College on March 16. The reward for the scholarship is $500 toward a summer journalism workshop of her choice. By taking these summer workshops, Luna hopes to bring new skills and ideas to the publication, possibly taking the paper in a whole new direction.   

Journalism teacher Adriana Chavira and president of SCJEA encouraged all of her students to apply for several journalism scholarships, most of which take place over the summer.

“The (previous attendees of workshops) have brought new ideas and ways to handle the staff,” Chavira said.

Chavira has no involvement in the scholarship committee but by having past students be awarded this scholarship, she has seen how all of The Pearl Post has benefited. She only hopes to provide all of her students with the best education possible so that they too can bring success to both the publication and themselves.

As part of the newspaper and yearbook staff, Luna writes a variety of stories for all sections, takes photos and works on videos, too. She was among the staff who provided daily coverage of the six-day teachers’ strike.

“Itzel is a very hardworking and dedicated student journalist,” Alondra Nuño said, The Pearl Post sports editor. “She’s always ready for a story assignment and is always willing to help write a story if it isn’t assigned to anyone.”