While Jinx Broussard, Louisiana State University professor and NYT Institute mentor, drove me to an interview last week, my world got much, much smaller in a matter of minutes.

It all started with a story.

Saturday, I had the opportunity to speak with one of The New York Times’s most important freelance photographers, Chad Batka.

On the ride back to Dillard, Jill, Henry and I just talked about our love for brass bands and the police officer who was such a stick in the mud.

Since there wasn’t a legitimate parking lot, we were forced to park behind the building … under a flickering streetlight … next to a Dumpster. And when we got out, we were accosted for change. All good signs for the night’s adventure.

As the Unity Outreach workers yell “Anybody Home?” I’m wondering, “What did I get myself into?”

Leon Hendrix III learns the value of humility when his editors axe his story.

I can say that having one-on-one time with Jill Abramson is like an aspiring basketball player playing one-on-one with Michael Jordan.

Call me clichéd, but whenever I hear a reference to New Orleans I immediately think of lacy cast-iron balconies, the sound of a raspy brass band, crimson crawfish and “STELLAAAA!”

The most pleasant for a temporary reporter in the Crescent City: People just really want to talk. On top of that, when they can’t get back to you by deadline, they let you know they’re sorry about it.

If you heard someone coughing at the beginning of the Institute, it was probably me.

Follow a young journalist as he eats food on the run.

Follow the daily accounts of a young journalist eating food on the run.

I have a confession. I’ve only had a coffee drink once in my entire life- a frappuccino at Starbucks, to be exact. Well, I think it was a frappuccino. So today when Geoffrey Cooper had the misfortune of having to make a pot after finishing the last cup of Maxwell House coffee, I decided to watch.

The past four days of the Institute have been raw. Arriving in the newsroom by eight in order to begin an average of 14 or 15 hours of work is the norm. The reality of it has a way of sneaking up on you.

I am one of the pickiest eaters you’ll ever meet. If I have a five-course meal, I will eat each item one by one. I never mix my foods; in fact I don’t even allow different food items on my plate to touch. But somehow I came to allow myself to sample some insects.
Bug Appetit [...]

It was past midnight and we had just finished in the newsroom when my housemate Justin Phillips came in the townhouse with a screwdriver and a very concerned look on his face.

This was lunch on the first day of the New York Times Student Journalism Institute, and already we were stuffed and nodding off.

The program is primarily a two-week journalism boot camp for current students and recent graduates from universities from all over the country. And each one of us seemed anxious, excited, and a little nervous to get things started.

I’ve dreamt of attending the New York Times Student Journalism Institute since I found out about it as a freshman two and a half years ago.
Wait, scratch that. Dreams are hopeful bits of the future we accept as possible. I wasn’t hopeful – I knew it was going to happen. I’ve envisioned myself at this [...]

Thanks to the New York Times Student Journalism Institute, 22 students are getting the chance to learn about multiple mediums of journalism.
Staff members from the New York Times Co. presented five specialties offered at this year’s newsroom: video journalism, Web production, copy editing, page design and wire editing.
While several presenters spoke about the different opportunities [...]

My big take-away from the first day of The New York Times Student Journalism Institute: I can enjoy the Big Easy without becoming an easy target.

It’s a bit overly dramatic, but today feels like the first day of the rest of our lives. There’s a kind of energy here that I haven’t seen very much, if ever before.

Of Monday’s five sessions, Interviewing Techniques and Finding stories on a new beat was the most informative. LaSharah Bunting, Trymaine Lee and Kortney Stringer took turns touching on subjects ranging from how to break the ice on an interview to how to be more like a sponge and absorb helpful information. Left, students tune in during one of the opening workshops.

Meaghan Looram, Sarah Kramer, and Alexis “Lexi” Mainland are part of the web team for The NY Times. They are picture editors, web content producers and journalists, but today they were teachers too.