An inquirer for a day

THE AUTHOR (second from left), with friends, shows off her Inquirer.

I put on my vest, wore my press ID and gathered my reporter’s notebook and pen. I was ready to be a journalist.

Yes, I was a journalist—at least for a day—when my friends and I spent a Friday afternoon at KidZania in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.

KidZania is a simulation of real communities and career opportunities all in one place. Children and young adults can be who they want to be—from baking bread to performing surgery on a patient, serving as a firefighter to working at an airline ticketing booth, caring for pets to investigating crime scenes, acting as tax collector or delivery crew and many more—complete with costumes and paraphernalia.

But KidZania is more than just a place for fun; it is also a place where one learns and dreams.

Of all the jobs I did that Friday afternoon, being an Inquirer journalist was the most memorable. Interviewing people and writing articles seemed challenging but the experience was a lot more different than I imagined. At the Inquirer booth, I worked in a real newsroom with a printing machine.

I went all over KidZania, talking to people and gathering information. Voila! I got enough materials to make my own newspaper! I felt really proud.

I am a journalist in my school, the editor in chief of our school paper. I find journalism interesting and fun because I get to gather and verify facts, interact with people and seek their opinions.

At the same time, I get to bond with fellow campus journalists. I was the news writer of our collaborative desktop publishing team that won two national awards during the long school break.

I find the series of training and campus press work worthwhile because I get to hone my craft.

Journalists play a key role in our society. They report the news. They write to inform and entertain people. They help shape public opinion. They can change people and society.

There is a voice inside me that keeps saying I should continue to ask, ask and ask and write, write and write. The voice is too strong. I cannot ignore the little inquirer in me.