I’m Marina. I am a junior at Monroe High School, and the SOAR intern at the Monroe Times.  

When I entered high school, I knew that I had aspirations to be a writer. I spoke with many of my teachers about my aspirations, but this last school year I met with Ms. Carper. She helped me get into the SOAR program interning at the Monroe Times. 

The SOAR program allows me to earn school credits, pay, and — most of all — experience. I have been working at the Times for about a month now, and I have learned many things. Some of which have been learning how to write like a journalist, how to interview people, how to use Microsoft Office, and many others. 

As I go into my junior year, I hope to grow more in my writing abilities and discover what kind of writer I would like to be. Before this job I was thinking of being a novelist, but now I am thinking about being a journalist. 

I like journalism because it keeps me up to date on what is going on in my community, and I always know what to write about, while novels allow me to create my own world and imagine. 

Either way, I would like to be a writer and I plan on attending college for English and literature after high school. I hope to know what I would like to do by then, but for right now I would like to do more writing for the paper: whether that’s another column or an article, and grow into a half-decent writer that can grab people’s attention and keep it. 

Follow me on my journey as I try to accomplish these ambitions. 

— Marina Schubert Monroe High School student and Student Occupation & Readiness (SOAR) intern at the Monroe Times.