By Aarya Patel
Earl L. Vandermeulen High School
Demi Cabness really wants to get into reporting, not only with words but also with cameras and sound equipment.
“I’m interested in film and editing,” Demi said.
Her mother, Michelle, said that Demi, who has her own YouTube channel, has the right chops as a video and content editor.
However, Demi knows that it all starts with a story and she has long known that she loves to read and write. A rising junior, Demi attends Harlem Children’s Zone Promise Academy High School 1, where she had a writing class that led her to the Robert W. Greene Institute for High School Journalists. She said she is looking for a college where she could make journalism her major.
“I’m interested in psychology as well,” Demi, adding that she believes a psychology major could enhance her reporting.
She found the Greene Team through a search for college-like experiences. The course has been helpful, but said she would enjoy it more if it was in-person, something impossible during the Pandemic. Her mother is of another mind on this. “I was very reluctant to send my daughter to this program at first before realizing that it was virtual,” she said. “After hearing that I was excited for my daughter to be in this program.”
One of Demi’s plans is to get a job and save money for a DSLR camera, better laptop, a microphone and editing software. Right now she feels she is limited without the equipment.
“I need some new equipment to motivate me to make these videos,” Demi said.
She would like to become a vlogging content creator for fashion, and the skills she is learning at the Greene Institute will give her vlogs strength.
At the same time, she is learning by watching YouTube channels of others, including Josh and Izzy, Deshae Frost and Princess Jay.
Although she understands that social causes and politics are important, she prefers to follow her own path but said she knows that she will eventually get involved in them.
“When I have to vote, I will try my best to understand politics,” Demi said.