KEMPA Journalism awarded its senior scholarships to three individuals. The winners, along with their essays outlining their future goals, are featured below.
Grace Golbach, DC Everest High School
When people ask what my passion and goal in life is, the answer remains the same: listen to others’ stories and tell those stories to the world.
The dream is to be a part of National Geographic, a magazine that will combine my love of creative writing, journalism and traveling. The writing found within it shows each author’s unique writing style without the limitations of some journalism rules. The authors of National Geographic are able to tell the story and paint the picture with as much depth as they see fit. The stories are long and powerful pieces that teach readers about something they never knew because of the meaningful time the authors were able to spend devoted to telling the full story. Storytelling is the aspiration and journalism the outlet.
After many experiences in journalism during my high school years, I am confident that journalism is the career path for me. I first joined my school newspaper, The Jet, and the Wisconsin Institute of Public Policy and Service’s (WIPPS) Student Journalism Program, to figure out if journalism was really a plausible career for me and something I could see myself doing for years. I found it was exactly what I want to do with my life.
I have now been involved with some aspect of journalism for three years. I enrolled in our school’s newspaper course as an independent study when my schedule didn’t fit it sophomore year; I joined the WIPPS journalism program my junior year; currently, I am an editor on our school newspaper and still part of the WIPPS program on the side.
In my experience on The Jet staff, I was exposed to a multitude of story angles and interview subjects: from a sports feature on the football team’s running back to penning an opinion piece on cell phone addiction to standing out in the rain interviewing people in line at the polls on the importance of democracy and the 2024 presidential election.
Through this, human interest stories have become my favorite. While talking politics or news brought new information and helped with understanding events of the world around me, it was interviewing people with a story to tell and share to the community that brought the most joy.
I aspire to write showing my unique creative talents while telling a story with a unique perspective. Let me learn as much as I can about others through interviews throughout my career. The journalism I do now, I see as the start to my path as a journalist for my favorite magazine National Geographic.
Sofia Cole, Glenbrook South High School
I had heard the phrase, “If a tree falls in a forest while no one is around, does it make a sound” many times before. But I had never pondered it more deeply until the summer going into junior year when I contracted mononucleosis. Junior year started for all my friends, except me. My school newspaper assigned stories to everyone, except me. Instead of August being a transitional period for getting back into the school groove, I was stuck in a limbo where life moved on for everyone but me.
I grieved many things after becoming sick: my social life, family time, even school, but what I missed most was contributing to something larger than myself. It wasn’t just about being productive; it was about being present for others and having a purpose beyond getting an ‘A.’ I didn’t know how much I needed that sense of purpose until it was stripped away.
As I recovered, I carried this realization into my work at The Oracle. Walking into the newspaper room, each step felt lighter than the one before, bringing me closer to a part of myself I hadn’t fully appreciated. I approached each story with a renewed, deeper purpose. As the Features Editor, I sought out the stories often overlooked—the clubs with just eight members, or in-depth pieces on issues I cared about, like sustainability. Now, as the Editor-in-Chief, I have strived to foster a staff that chases the stories that excite them and give a voice to the voiceless.
Whether through investigative journalism, political reporting, or strategic communication, my ultimate goal is to ensure that when the tree falls when voices are silenced, when injustices occur—there is someone there to listen, record, and respond. I will always pursue giving a voice to those who feel like the lone tree, much like I had felt during my time in isolation.
The fallen tree, I learned, always makes a sound— it just needs someone willing to listen.
Justin Ferstein, Stevenson High School
Justin’s story started with a pivotal moment in his life that involved the Chicago Cubs. When he heard that long awaited phrase “The Cubs have won the World Series,” he jolted around his house with excitement, trying his best not to wake up his parents. From that moment on he said, “I knew sports were in my blood.”
Justin comes from a baseball family, and he tried for many years to be a ball player with not much luck. His playing career was over when in 8th grade he slid into home plate awkwardly and broke his ankle. He realized at that point that he wasn’t going to be a ball player, but he said, “Little did I know then, but that wasn’t the full end to my sports career.”
“My first class freshman year, I had enrolled in journalistic writing. While I always thought I was a decent writer, I had never grasped the full image of journalism. However, the class taught me many important aspects, most notably broadcast journalism and sports journalism, and how to make a career out of it. After that course, I immersed myself in the Sports Broadcasting Club, Sports Analytics Club, and “The Statesman,” my school’s publication. I had never felt so passionate over anything else, the way I was covering sports and news around my school and more. My junior year, I kicked it into another gear, traveling with my school’s basketball and football teams, and paving the way for a career in sports journalism.
I committed to the University of Missouri in November of 2024 to further my skills and pursue my long-held passion of journalism. college. At that point I didn’t realize at the time that my dream was always right in front of me—making the memorable calls that replay in sports fans’ heads, just as Joe Buck’s call did for me in 2016. My goal for my future is to cover sports through broadcasting and writing, and land a career within ESPN.
“In all, when I think of journalism, I don’t think of the steps I’ve taken into becoming a successful high school student journalist, but more so the impact journalism has had on my life. For me, reading sports reports and hearing the play-by-play announcer on my television have been key moments in my childhood that helped me develop my passion for the sports world. Fulfilling my career goal of becoming an ESPN reporter would allow me to share my passion for sports with the world and inspire others through the art of storytelling—just as those before me inspired me.”
