Before anything, I'd like to let people know that two of my articles - the first and the fourth -- have been published so far. They've made it into the Sparta Independent and some of the other local Straus News papers, thanks to JoAnn Baker. At Bruce Schimmel's suggestion, I posted the links to each of those articles beneath their corresponding post on this website. So, the link to the first article is posted as a comment under the post that includes the first article, etc.

It's strange to think that I only have one week left officially in this project. (of course, I hope to follow up with people and keep in touch, as well as continue learning about the subject.) I didn't really know what to expect when I started, and I was nervous; despite my previous journalism experience, I'd never undertaken a project of this magnitude. I definitely learned a lot more about research in general, and I'm very happy with the knowledge I've gained -- both in terms of immigration and also, of course, journalism.

I'm going to save what I've learned about Northern New Jersey immigration (and the broader migration picture)for my final post, but I'd like now to address some of what I've learned journalistically. Stylistically, Ms. Baker has been a fantastic resource. I hadn't written for a newspaper for a while before this summer, and I had definitely developed a more academic style, so I really appreciated learning some of the finer points of how to write for a paper.

One of the most enjoyable aspects for me was being able to have confidential sources. Since many of the people I wanted to talk with were undocumented immigrants, I was definitely concerned with how I would protect them; I was thrilled that Ms. Baker was willing to trust me enough to extend to me that privilege. It also taught me a lot about having other sources of information to verify knowledge/facts gained from the confidential sources -- I hadn't really considered any of those details before.

I also learned the importance of persistence and following up with people. In the past, most people were eager to talk to me for articles I had to write, but that wasn't always the case this time: several people would not return my calls. Moreover, I had several cases where officials often just forgot to call back. I've always been the type of person who doesn't like to bother people, so I had to overcome my reluctance to "pester". Being persistent certainly paid off; it got me interviews with county officials and a couple of migrants who had been initially hesitant to talk.

Finally, I learned a lot about leads. Most of my previous work experience consisted of profiles and features -- it didn't require a lot of digging. This time around, though, I definitely had to rely on incoming information and move from one fact to another. Many of my stories and ideas emerged from small asides or afterthoughts that people would make in conversations. For example, that's how I learned of the Costa Rican family that I interviewed, and they're going to be the focus of the final article.

Once again, I'd like to thank everyone who's been involved and made this possible!