By Angelica Euseary, Renaissance Staff Writer
The Detroit Free Press has been helping students discover their passion for journalism for 30 years. Each year, they develop some of the best and brightest journalists in the metro Detroit area who go on to work in journalism as professionals or communications.
Julie Lynem, who graduated from Cass Tech in 1990, was one of the first students to participate in the High School Journalism Program, and she found her passion for journalism at a young age.
“I knew when I was 12 years old that I wanted to grow up and pursue a career doing some form of writing,” said Lynem. “I thought ‘this seems like something I’d be interested in’, because spelling, grammar and English were always my best subjects.”
Each year, the Free Press offers one future journalist a $24,000 scholarship. Lynem was one of the students to receive the scholarship, and went to the University of Missouri.
“I was the third student to receive the scholarship, and back then it was a full ride to the University of Missouri,” said Lynem. “That was a transformational experience for me.”
After graduating from Missouri, she worked with the Pulliam Journalism Fellowship, Indiana Star News. In 1998, she got married and moved to California and worked for the San Francisco Chronicle.
“Working at the Detroit Free Press at such a young age was inspirational, motivational, and thrilling wrapped in one,” said Lynem. “Whenever you have an internship and get your feet wet, it’s boosting yourself up for the future. I had a chance to get in on the ground floor learning about journalism. This gave me the building blocks to help me become the best reporter I could be.”
Lynem is still practicing journalism today. She currently writes for the Tribune in San Luis Obispo, Calif.
“The Detroit Free Press helped me take that baby step that led to bigger and better,” said Lynem. “I feel like that was the first step to realizing my dream.”
