Resources / Ripples & Wipeouts

Kiah Thomas is a recent high school graduate preparing to transition to college in the fall.  These are her thoughts on Media Day, an annual even organized by Junior Achievement of New York (JANY) to show middle schoolers the various types of careers they can have in the media.

I admit it, I didn’t like middle school. The kids were always so quick to judge, and once they made a judgment about something, or somebody, they’d stick to it (even me). That’s why I was a little hesitant when my mom told me about presenting in front of middle school kids for Media Day.  I could see their unenthused expressions, slumped in deteriorating auditorium chairs wondering why they were being put through this. I could see some yawning, talking to their friends next to them. Some on their phones or sidekicks, which has become a teen’s bff. When asked questions, no one’s hands would go up. I remembered my own middle school days, going to assemblies and being bored out of my mind as people I didn’t know talked about stuff I didn’t care about. I soon felt guilty, because I was now the person they didn’t know, informing them on things they probably wouldn’t care about. 

My mom and I made our presentation at the Mirabal Sisters School, located on168th Street in Manhattan. The Mirabals were four sisters who grew up in a city in the Dominican Republic called Salcedo during the era of the dictator Rafael Trujillo. Three of them — Minerva, Patria, and Maria Teresa — were killed by Trujillo’s henchmen for their involvement in efforts to overthrow the fascist government. The surviving sister, Bélgica (more commonly known as Dedé), lives in Salcedo, tending the museum in Ojo de Agua that commemorates her sisters. The Mirabal sisters, now national heroines of the Dominican Republic, have been immortalized in poem, fiction, art, and even with an international day dedicated to them.  Although the sisters haven’t yet gained such international recognition as to become household names, they have had their share of memorialization in the years since their horrific murders. In recent years, especially, the Mirabals have been recognized for their courage in the face of such a totalitarian and paranoia-inducing tyranny. The school is a tribute to the legacy of those three sisters. 

Junior Achievement of New York (JANY) organized Media Day to inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy.  They felt that The Mirabal Sisters School would be a perfect place to hold the event.  Media day is an opportunity for middle school kids to learn about all the different career paths that the media industry has to offer.  Other presenters were photographers, makeup artists, a newspaper editor and a reporter.

My mom volunteered to present for media day.  She works for a marketing and public relations firm called Make Waves.  She is responsible for directing and executing the media strategies for her clients and works a lot with reporters and producers at newspapers, and radio and television shows.  A large part of executing the strategies is to have a good message.  My mom says that a message is like a concept or a point of view that supports a person’s position on an issue and is used to get others to agree to that point of view.  She thought it would be cool to have me be a part of the presentation because the kids could relate to me as a young person.  I was a senior in high school at the time.  I also wrote for my school paper and became co-editor this past year.  In addition I am a singer and actress and in the fall, I will be attending Five Towns College in Long Island to study theater.

My mother and I made up a skit to demonstrate the right way and the wrong way to deliver a message. My mom explained that we all deliver messages – we try to get people to do things we want them to do all the time – we just don’t realize it.  The skit was going to show how I was going to convince my mom to let me go away for the weekend with friends. In the first skit, my mom came home from work all hot and bothered and I tried to talk with her then.  I wasn’t very clear and confident about the details of the trip and she completely blew me off. 

In the next skit, I was ready.  I explained how the weekend away could be a good intro to dorm life and that my friend’s parents would check in unannounced to make sure that we were behaving.  I also chose a better time of day to talk with my mom and she was much more receptive to the idea.  You see, in order for a message to be effective you have to know your audience, and prepare your message in a way that shows them there’s a benefit for them.  Another important aspect to remember is that the messenger is as important as the message.  In the second skit, my mom would benefit from me learning to be responsible for myself and with my things.  For her, this would help to make my dorm life successful and increase the likelihood that I would stay in school.

I was amazed when I stepped into the first classroom - thankful that it wasn’t a large auditorium full of bored faces - to see bright and shiny faces looking and sitting up straight. I relaxed a little more when I saw that hands shot up when my mother or I asked the class a question. I was surprised that only one student had fallen asleep, but he was in the back of the room. To my own amusement, the boys in the next classroom paid extra attention to me when I asked them questions. They yelled “Goodbye Kiah,” a little too excitedly. But overall I was very impressed with the behavior of the students in the classrooms. It seemed that they were genuinely interested and paid attention to what my mom and I had to offer. 

This whole experience made me realize that there are kids who are ready to learn new things.  I was also happy to see that they were asking questions and answering with equal energy.  I would love to come back to this school and tell the students about my experiences in college. I hope that students the next go-round will be just as eager and excited as this group was.

--KIAH THOMAS