A Kapa‘a High School senior was recently chosen to participate in the prestigious and competitive Freedom Forum high school journalism scholarship and conference program in Washington, D.C. Abraham Mitnik, 18, of Princeville, is leaving Kaua‘i tonight, Saturday, March 20, on
A Kapa‘a High School senior was recently chosen to participate in the prestigious and competitive Freedom Forum high school journalism scholarship and conference program in Washington, D.C.
Abraham Mitnik, 18, of Princeville, is leaving Kaua‘i tonight, Saturday, March 20, on his first trip to the nation’s capital.
The Al Neuharth Free Spirit Scholarship and conference program, which runs Monday through Thursday, March 22 to 25, invites the top 102 high-school journalism students in the country, one male and one female from each state, to the annual sessions.
Leaders from over 80 newspapers across the United States helped solicit applications from high school seniors with interests in journalism. Two of the students will receive $50,000 college scholarships. All others will get $1,000 scholarships.
The two top winners will be announced at a Free Spirit ceremony at the National Press Club on Wednesday, March 24.
Mitnik is a staff writer and photographer at Kapa‘a High School’s Tradewinds school newspaper, and has had several items published in the news magazine from Island School called “Switch.”
He is a news anchor for the Channel 6 “Warrior News,” and makes daily TV school announcements.
“I like to write about something that will get you motivated, make you laugh, and maybe even make a difference in your life,” he said.
“My first thing I liked was photography. That’s the first thing I got into,” he said. “This year I’ve been more into writing,” he said in a phone interview.
“Photography is a vessel to other art forms. It should be used sparingly,” Mitnik wrote in an e-mail.
In addition to his numerous journalism adventures, Mitnik, son of Susan Mitnik of Princeville, is involved with the school’s Interact Club and Earth Club. The Interact Club focuses on community-service learning projects and volunteerism, while the Earth Club’s activities this year have centered around recycling and environmental awareness.
“I want to travel around the world and do National Geographic-type of work about the environment, and go on expeditions with scientists,” he said.
The Earth Club is gearing up for a stewardship program on Kaho‘olawe next month, in which the group will propagate native plants and clean up areas on the island.
He has an older sister, Serena, a photographer who attends San Francisco City College; and a younger brother, Kyle, who lives with their father, Don Johnson, in New York state.
Abraham Mitnik played soccer, and this year he is golfing for the Kapa‘a High School team. Through high school he has worked at Banana Joe’s in Kilauea. Also, he’s a guitar player who enjoys “good rock ‘n’ roll,” like Led Zeppelin and Green Day. He’s a student radio personality at community radio station KKCR, and on his show he likes to “bring back the hits,” meaning the music of the 1980s and ‘90s.
Upon his graduation, Mitnik said he plans to attend college, and focus his studies in journalism. He is looking at Santa Barbara City College and other community and junior colleges to start off.
He said if he decides to focus on writing, he would like to attend the University of California at Berkeley, or Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara, which is noted for its photography and photojournalism programs.
“I like to write about issues that affect teens,” Mitnik said recently. “News is fun and all, but there isn’t too much news going on (on campus).”
The top issues affecting teens on Kaua‘i, he says, are things to do here on the island. “They don’t really know any better; suck ‘em up and do the drugs,” he said of his peers. “There’s no hope in dope,” he chuckled about a T-shirt he once owned. He even admitted to wearing a black-and-white striped jersey for golf outings.
“I like to wear outrageous clothing; mismatched clothing, bright colors. I’m known for wearing things that are vibrant and don’t go together. Pink’s my favorite color,” he claimed.
Mitnik also said that he reads The Garden Island every day.
“I always look at the sports page to see if they write something about Kapa‘a. The Happy Camper is my favorite section because it’s getting to know everybody, interaction with the local people of the island, just see how everyone’s doing.
“Journalism, to me, is getting the news out to the public so they can better understand the situation surrounding them,” he said in an e-mail to TGI.
His mom, Susan, spoke to TGI in a phone interview from Massachusetts, where she is tending to family business.
“He’s an individual. He’s at a point where he’s not afraid to state his opinions,” she said.
“I feel that to have an outlet at that age is a blessing, because so many kids don’t have a way to express themselves. They all have passionate feelings and opinions inside, and if they only could express themselves and express their passions in a way that was healthy, we wouldn’t have so many problems on our island,” she said.
“He likes to come out (problems) with these comments that are very one-pointed and one-liners. When he writes, it’s not that long, but he gets on a roll. He can see the humor behind people’s actions,” Susan said.
Apparently, this student is already pondering his role at the Washington, D.C. conference, noting the other person chosen from Hawai‘i is a student at Punahou. “If I had to sum up life in a sentence, it would be ‘think small, ‘cause where you’re going, you ain’t that big.'”
Applicants for the scholarship program were required to provide samples of their journalistic work, and write two essays: why they want to pursue a career in journalism, and what characteristics make them a “free spirit.”
The program was created in 1999 to honor Al Neuharth, the founder of USA Today and the Freedom Forum, for his long and distinguished career in journalism and his free spirit.
It was designed to assist students who are pursuing journalism careers, and to inspire them through conference sessions with prominent media professionals. The Close Up Foundation is assisting the Freedom Forum in administering the program.
“We want to encourage these young people to become free-spirited journalists who dream, dare and do,” said Neuharth. “We hope they’ll continue their adventures in journalism, but wherever their lives take them, we want them to know that if they can dream, they can do it.”
The Freedom Forum, based in Arlington, Va., is a nonpartisan foundation dedicated to free press, free speech and free spirit for all people. The foundation focuses on the Newseum, a museum of news; the First Amendment; and newsroom diversity.
Lifestyle Writer Kendyce Manguchei can be reached at kmanguchei@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 226).
