The 42 J-campers pose for a group picture. Ruan is on the right. Photo by J-camper Jackelyn Ho (click to enlarge)

Ruan and his friends are ready to attend a journalism reception, where Ruan met with some of journalism's biggest names. Photo by J-camper Julia Lieu (click to enlarge)

CHICAGO — So many choices. This summer, I had many camp invitations. The most memorable one I went to was the Asian American Journalists Association's J Camp, which took place July 18-23 at Loyola University in Chicago.

From across the United States, J Camp only selected 42 high school students. Among them were two people from Illinois, including me, nine from California, one from Texas, and one from Hawaii. Interestingly enough, the person from Hawaii went to Punahou School, Barack Obama's alma mater.

The camp divided all the student journalists into three sections: print, TV, and photos. I was assigned to the print section.

Prior to the camp, the director had e-mailed students a whole list of homework we had to complete. I had to research the backgrounds of the instructors and guest speakers, read an issue of People, Sports Illustrated, Wall Street Journal, and watch a week’s worth of CNN Headline News.

Once I arrived at Loyola and got settled down in my dorm room — a suite for four people that had its own kitchen, microwave, and refrigerator — I met with my three roommates. They were all rising seniors: Jordan and Willie from California, and Joe from Connecticut.

When it was time for us to attend the first group activity, I was immediately surprised by how diverse the camp was. Although our instructors were almost all Asian, our student group was a mix of African Americans, Asians, and Mexicans. There was only one Caucasian male out of the 42 students. Later at the camp, he wrote a blog entry titled "White man's burden."

As well, I was amazed to see that most of the J-campers were similar to Uni students. Like Uni students, the campers were academically strong, had good leadership skills, and wanted to go to top schools like Columbia or Northwestern.

In addition, they each had some talent or unique quality that made them stand out. For example, there was a girl who was a top swimmer, and Jordan was a DJ who had his own YouTube videos and maintained his own music blog.

The camp's first activity was ice breaking, and everyone got to know each other’s backgrounds and shared about the one dead person they would interview. My person was author and Uni alum Iris Chang. Another interesting thing was that almost everyone wrote in their J-camp application that the one living person they would interview would be Barack Obama.

After the first day, the camp was loaded with activity after activity. Any free time students had would be spent at Loyola's spacious and comfy lounge, where we would play pingpong, pool, and watch TV.

One fond memory I have is that every morning I would gather at the Loyola cafeteria with the other student journalists to eat breakfast and read the current issue of the Chicago Tribune. Everyone would have one hour to read over the Trib and then take a quiz afterward.

The cafeteria room would always be silent. For the next half hour, only the constant rustling of newspapers could be heard. When time was running out, the silence would be broken and we would test each other: “How old is John McCain?” “What’s Obama’s new strategy for Iraq?”

Once breakfast was finished, we would take the 10-question news quiz. I did pretty well, but I didn’t get a high enough score at the end of the camp in order to be one of the five finalists. The finalists were all girls (it was just too hard for us guys to outscore them), and in order to determine the winner there was a fun 10-question news trivia about what happened at J Camp. One of the questions was: Who at this camp is a nationally ranked chess player?

After the morning quiz, we would listen to notable journalists from various news organizations come and speak about their profession and the current transformation journalism is undergoing from print to online.

For example, one day we visited the Chicago Tribune headquarters and had former CNN anchor Joie Chen come to speak to us about the lack of diversity in newsrooms. Another day, ABC investigative journalist Brian Ross came in and talked about how he was always moving about to follow and interview people. Right after he finished his speech, if I remember correctly, he had to leave for an assignment.

Another great activity was when the print journalists and photographers teamed up to write stories about how vendors make a living at a flea market. Because I was in the print section, my job was to interview the vendors.

The job sounded very easy, but I was soon confronted with a big problem. Most of the vendors there were not very fluent in English and refused to talk to me. This was a bummer, since even the people who could speak English were too busy and didn’t want to be bothered.

The flea market was big, and there were many people to try and get to cooperate. After walking around for a while and trying my luck, I was finally able to find a Mexican family who was cooperative. I was able to get my story, and my teammate was able to get his photos. By the end of the day, the story was written. (To read the final version, see below.)

In addition to the great activities the camp offered, it also presented me with some of the best opportunities a journalist can acquire. On the last day, all the student journalists attended a reception that gathered some of the industry’s biggest names, such as journalists from The Sacramento Bee, Star Tribune, The Seattle Times, The Washington Post, and others. I was able to meet with the journalists, ask questions, and get business cards.

Summer camps are always a great place to go and have a fun learning experience. If you are interested in a certain profession and aren’t sure about it, I definitely recommend attending a camp. J Camp definitely broadened my overall knowledge about the journalism profession. I networked with high school students with the same interests, met well-known journalists, and visited the Chicago Tribune. I may not have been able to experience these things anywhere else.

Reporting from J Camp: "Life at Maxwell Street"

Note: The following is the story Gordon Ruan wrote about flea-market vendors while he attended the Asian American Journalists Association's summer camp in Chicago.

Ever since she was born, 11-year-old Jocelyn has had to live a busy life. Every Sunday, she goes to work from 4 a.m. to 5 p.m. Her job: a street vendor who helps her Mexican family of three brothers and mother sell sunglasses, flip-flops, sandals, shirts, and purses.

Jocelyn’s family is one of the many who try to make money by selling items at a flea market called Maxwell Street Market. It takes place every Sunday on Canal Street, and it's always crowded with buyers and vendors who sell a variety of things such as video games, clothes, food, and jewelry.

The family has been doing business at the market for 14 years. They have never missed a Sunday.

“We’re always here. If it’s raining, we put up canvasses to stay dry. If it’s hot, we bring fans. We’ll be here even when it’s snowing,” said Manuel, Jocelyn’s 17-year-old brother.

At the market, most vendors have only one stall. Jocelyn’s family has two. One is run by her brothers, who display sunglasses, flip-flops, and shirts. The second one is run by her mother, who has purses and shirts. Many of the customers purchase the colorful $20 purses and $15 shirts that are on display.

Working at a market is always very busy, and as a vendor you never know who’s going to buy your stuff. Jocelyn often works with her mother to help translate, since her mother has trouble speaking English. However, most of the customers are Hispanic, so interaction between vendors and customers is almost all in Spanish.

According to Jocelyn’s mother, she has been a vendor her whole entire life. When she was little, she sold socks, did laundry, and washed dishes in Mexico. It wasn’t until she was 18 when she moved to the United States. After getting settled down, she began her business in the flea market by obtaining supplies from various companies. Currently, the family acquires its stuff from Lacoste and Dolce and Gabbana.

In addition to putting items on for sale at Maxwell Street Market, Jocelyn’s father runs a perfume shop in downtown Chicago.

“If I’m not here, I go there to help,” said Jocelyn.

So far, this hard-working family hasn’t encountered many problems. However, according to Jocelyn’s mother, business is getting worse because of inflation. Over the years, the amount of profit they make has been gradually been decreasing.

This year, they have been making about $800 to $1,000 a day, seeing about 150 to 200 customers. Even though $1,000 may seem a lot for a day, they don’t attain much profit. A couple years ago, they were able to make much more. Despite the increasing difficulty, the family hopes to continue working in the market.

“We’ll be here for a while,” said Jocelyn. “But I don’t want to be here forever. I want to be a vet when I grow up.”