In a state of dejection, senior Daja Dansby scrolled trough her influx of emails. Having lost all hope of ever getting accepted into the camp of her dreams, she briefly skimmed over the subject lines. She was about to close her laptop when something caught her eye. There, in front of her was the email she had been waiting for, the email that would change the course of her summer.

“When I saw that I got into JCAMP I was shocked.” Dansby said. “I thought I wasn’t qualified enough for the program, so I stopped holding out hope.

Dansby was one of 42 students selected to participate in an all-expense paid, multi-cultural journalism camp through the Asian American Journalism Association. The camp took place from July 27-Aug. 1 at Georgia State University.

“I got the opportunity to meet people from all over the country with the same passion as me,” she said. “Everyone had a different story but we were all able to come together and become a family.”

While she was there, Dansby spent the week working on a video-package, listening to professional journalists and networking.

“Every day had a new surprise in store,” she said. “The best thing about the trip was that I was able to learn from my mentors, guest speakers and peers alike.”

Dansby said she was astounded by the impact the camp had on her in just six days.

“This is my future,” she said. “Ever since my experience at camp, my confidence in my abilities, as well as my passion to become a journalist, has grown.”