Like Nothing Traumatic Happened At All

6/13/2017

by Sonni Pressley

The elevator suddenly jerks to a stop but delays a moment before opening up in front of a cement wall. We look around, and all realize this is nowhere near the first floor. We just wanted to get Chick-fil-A for lunch, but the universe obviously had different plans. That elevator was a box of wrongdoings and wouldn't follow through with its duties.

It was the second day of the YMP summer. Jeffery, Chloe, Chauncey and I decided to take a different elevator than the others, because there was no way all of us would fit in one tiny closed space for even a few seconds. We unknowingly jumped on the death box with food on our minds. The elevator stopped on the 10th floor, then zipped up to the roof. We were all confused and decided stairs were our safest bet at this point.

Out of breath, we all stomped out the door of the building. All of us looked at each other and laughed like nothing traumatic happened at all. Walking into the Regions Building toward Chick-fil-A, we droned on about ourselves. Sitting down, I noticed that I felt slightly closer to these people because of this unfortunate event. Socializing with people is the scariest thing that you can possibly do, in my eyes.

Being able to openly communicate with these other humans was shockingly easy, which is probably because we are all similar. Our personalities complement each other's well. I now have new friends and a great memory.

My YMP experience has been fantastic so far, and I'm looking forward to what is in store.

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Major Sponsors and Supporters of YMP

Mississippi Public Broadcasting (MPB) is a leader in informational broadcasting. MPB has exhibited a commitment to educating and informing Mississippians. MPB has partnered with YMP to lend tech equipment and provide youth engagement and media specialists to train students.

E3, a project of Parents of Public Schools of Jackson (now Ask for More), supported YMP in summers 2016 and 2017 with stipends for students, and other resources.
The Community Foundation of Greater Jackson (now The Community Foundation of Mississippi) is the
fiscal sponsor for E3.

Podastery Studios in downtown Jackson offers a network of locally produced podcasts. Beau York, founder of Podastery, has generously donated his time to train YMP students in podcasting skills and allowed Youth Media Project students to borrow professional podcasting equipment to learn
production skills.

Dialogue Jackson, formerly Jackson 2000 Inc., is a nonprofit corporation dedicated to fostering understanding and building harmony between people of different races, ethnicities and backgrounds. The group became YMP's fiscal sponsor in 2017 and hosts youth dialogues for teens..

Choice Printing in downtown Jackson is an in-kind sponsor of YMP offering YMP copying and printing services from its Capitol Towers location.

Good Design & Code >>

Good Design & Co offers high-end UI/UX, web development, app development and branding services. Principal J.C. Hiatt is helping YMP students publish their own website for stories, video, podcasts and more.

Jackson-based Workplace Solutions by Barefield is a Steelcase authorized dealer offering high-end office furniture and technology solutions. Workplace Solutions has loaned chairs, mobile desks and mobile whiteboards to create a collaborative office for YMP participants.

Jackson-based Fuse.cloud (formerly Broadband Voice) offers Voice-over-IP phone systems, fiber Internet connections and technical services. Fuse.cloud has sponsored phones, VoIP phone service and technical assistance for YMP.

SPECIAL THANKS TO DR. GEORGE SCHIMMEL and NATALIE IRBY FOR THEIR GENEROUS DONATIONS OF PRODUCTION IMACS FOR THE YOUTH MEDIA PROJECT.
CLICK HERE TO MAKE YOUR TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION TO YMP.

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