The Inkblot staff traveled to Rutgers University for the annual Fall Press Day field trip on Oct. 24. The Garden State Scholastic Press Association (GSSPA) hosts and plans the event annually.

Teen journalists and school newspaper advisers gathered on Busch Campus and attended seminars on topics ranging from the excitement of investigative journalism to the importance of student press rights. The keynote speaker, Michael Vitez, earned a Pulitzer prize for journalism, and spoke to students about his work, and finding joy and passion in writing.

Before the keynote address, members of the GSSPA announced this year’s award winning papers. The Inkblot took home two awards in their division for Overall Excellence and Distinguished Journalism. Several writers, editors and cartoonists were also honored for their individual work on the paper.

Junior Lauren Spiezia of Manalapan, an Inkblot staff writer, went on the trip for the first time and thought that the seminars she attended were very helpful, and enjoyed the day overall.

“I thought that Fall Press Day was super informative and I loved how I was able to talk to journalism students from different schools and backgrounds,” Spiezia said.

Senior Sarah Lynch of Interlaken and junior Andrew Wang of Marlboro joined writers from all over the state in a “write off” sponsored by the GSSPA, in which they covered the keynote speech given by Vitez. Each writer was allowed to use only their own notes to complete a news piece in 45 minutes. There was also a Twitter contest, where students were judged on their news-tweeting ability.