This year for the first time OIDJ virtually hosted two Russian students as participants. Despite an eight-hour time difference that kept them working late into the night, these students learned from the OIDJ instructors, connected with the Oklahoma students and produced media work for the website.
TAGANROG, Russia – I recently met an interesting girl on the other side of the world and had a short interview with her via Zoom.
Jensen McKey, 15, lives in the suburb of Harrah, Oklahoma, with her parents, three sisters and four brothers, who she says are friendly, spend lots of time together and help one another. Jensen is the middle child and often helps her parents around the house and looks after the younger children.
As for hobbies, Jensen likes to watch YouTube videos about baking and also helps her mom cook. Her family has a large acreage, which permits Jensen to do backyard gardening, including tending her favorite flower, roses. (I also love these flowers very much.) Jensen enjoys reading as well, especially fantasy and mysticism genres. She also is an avid reader, which she believes helps her write better stories.
Her family also has five cats, five chickens and two dogs. Despite the full household she doesn’t yet have her dream pet, a purple corn snake, which she wants to get when she moves into her own house some day. My dream is to have as many cats as Jensen, but I think that’s too much for an apartment. One cat, which I love very much, is enough for me for now.
Jensen and I also discussed school. In America, there is an opportunity to study at an online school, which Jensen does at Epic Charter Schools. She has friends at this school and despite not being in physical classrooms together they often communicate on Zoom and on social networks.
In the future, Jensen hopes to go into journalism and perhaps video production. I believe Jensen will become an excellent journalist. She is sweet and cheerful, and I hope to continue our communication after OIDJ. If I can come to the United States, I will definitely meet her.
