Two Earl Marriott Secondary students will make their small-screen debut Wednesday on CBC Radio-Canada Television.
Maria Lesyk and Jenny Zhu were selected to be youth reporters who would create news reports for CBC as part of the Jeun’Info future journalist competition.
The report will air March 4 at 6:30 p.m. on channel seven.
Lesyk, 16, told Peace Arch News Friday that she had first heard of the competition through her teachers at school.
The French-immersion student decided to try out for the competition, despite her fears.
“When I saw the (promotional) videos, I thought, ‘I can’t do that,’” she said. “It looked really scary, but I decided to apply online.”
After submitting her application, Lesyk was invited to a meeting and audition, and was later accepted as a youth reporter.
While she notes that she doesn’t know if a career in journalism lies in her future, Lesyk said that it was “definitely an option.”
“I’m also really into theatre and singing,” she said, noting she had rehearsal for EMS’s production of Ash Girl after the interview. “But I realized in the process that this is something really cool. You’re not just doing a report, you’re finding artistic angles with the camera while you’re filming, too.”
Lesyk will be doing her report on online dating, while Zhu, who is in Grade 12, will act as host.
The idea for a report on online dating came to Lesyk after she noticed an increase in use among her peers.
For her report, Lesyk interviewed a Francophone policewoman, high school student and the cousin of one of her teachers – who is planning her August wedding after meeting her fiancé online.
After wrapping up her project last week, Lesyk noted it was much more emotional than she originally anticipated.
“I was almost in tears, I was so happy,” she said. “I was really conscientious because I wanted to do really well. It was a big accomplishment for me.”
Lesyk added that for anyone interested next year, who has any doubts, her recommendation would be to “go for it.”
“If you put the work in and if you put your mind into it, anyone can do it,” she said.