SNPA welcomes summer intern: Lara Strydom

Lara Strydom, who recently graduated from Alpharetta High School and will be majoring in journalism at the University of Georgia this fall, is working with the SNPA staff as an intern this summer.

Executive Director Edward VanHorn said: "When Lara approached SNPA about a summer internship – and we learned that she was eagerly waiting to start journalism school – SNPA jumped at the opportunity.  This summer, Lara is getting a look at operating newsrooms, learning about the business aspects of newspapers, and developing some bylined stories for SNPA."

She also is assisting in updating website content, will contribute to SNPA's social media platform and more. She'll have the chance to gain valuable experience as she visits a variety of news outlets and public relations firms this month, including The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Forsyth County News, Gainesville Times, Weber Shandwick (public relations firm) and CNN.

VanHorn said, "Lara was a straight A student in high school, and I predict that she will be an A+ journalist."

Strydom's passion for journalism began in her junior year of high school when she joined her school newspaper "The Hook." She was promoted to section editor in her senior year. She recently attended the Columbia Scholastic Press Association Convention at Columbia University in New York City with four other members of her high school newspaper staff. At Columbia, she took part in several courses on writing, design, photography, interviewing, investigative and other journalism topics. Speakers included a wide range of professionals – from high school newspaper advisers to reporters for The New York Times.  

Strydom hopes to focus on investigative/political journalism with a role as a writer, but is open to all aspects of the journalism field. "For me, journalism is about being eye-opening. There are so many stories that are just waiting to be told, and each one has the capacity to open the audience up to a new perspective on life, social issues, political issues or just about anything," she said.

"When you can inspire an audience to think differently, then you can inspire them to act differently. That's how change happens. But, that change won't happen if no one has the courage to tell these eye-opening stories," Strydom says.