{"id":1227,"date":"2019-05-08T19:54:20","date_gmt":"2019-05-08T19:54:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/?p=1227"},"modified":"2019-09-16T15:29:27","modified_gmt":"2019-09-16T15:29:27","slug":"journalism-student-travels-to-japan-to-cover-dementia-crisis-a-struggle-shes-living-through","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/2019\/05\/journalism-student-travels-to-japan-to-cover-dementia-crisis-a-struggle-shes-living-through\/","title":{"rendered":"Journalism student to cover dementia crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

New to the journalism community, junior Audrey Henson scored the Pulitzer Center<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s Student Reporting Fellowship, granting her $3,000 to cover an <\/span>under-reported global issue. <\/span>Henson <\/span>will travel to Japan this summer to report on <\/span>dementia villages in <\/span>the country\u2019s aging population. But the topic also <\/span>impacts Henson<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s life personally<\/span>: she was a<\/span> young <\/span>girl<\/span> when her grandmother was <\/span>also diagnosed with dementia.<\/span> \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Each year, the center awards one fellowship to a Hunter student. The student presents a proposal for a project along with a budget and reporting plan and must <\/span>then produce the story and pursue its publication. <\/span>Henson will <\/span>stay in Tokyo <\/span>and<\/span> travel<\/span> back and forth from Tochigi and Gunma<\/span>over the course of two weeks.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>This story is so much bigger than me, and I’m very grateful to be able to bring a voice to it<\/span>,<\/span>\u201d<\/span>Henson said. <\/span>\u201cI’m hoping to learn more about the disease itself, so that I will learn how to be a better caregiver to my own grandmother. On a humanitarian level, I’m hoping that this will impact not only me, but everyone on a more personal level.<\/span><\/p>\n

Henson, a lover of Japanese culture, immediately became interested<\/span> in the issue after reading an article in the Japan Times. <\/span>With <\/span>t<\/span>he majority of<\/span> the population is <\/span>now <\/span>over 65<\/span> and the decline in the nation\u2019s birthrate,<\/span> dementia has<\/span> become a <\/span>national <\/span>crisis<\/span>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Beyond her inte<\/span>rest in Japanese culture, Henson<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s grandmother struggles with vascular dementia, a serious and rare form of the disease. This condition blocks the blood flow to the brain and eventually kills cells everywhere in the body. Her grandmother<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s illness has been<\/span> very tiring on the family<\/span>, she said<\/span>.<\/span> \u201c<\/span>You are essentially watching someone you love die very slowly and that<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s very, very hard.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Henson<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s grandmother wanted to be a journalist when she was younger, which is part of the reasoning behind Henson<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s career path. Hen<\/span>son<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s mother was visiting her <\/span>g<\/span>randmother at the time the Pulitzer Center award was announced<\/span>, giving Henson the<\/span> chance to share her excitement with both her mom and grandmother at the same time. She explained how her grandmother reacted to the news.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>She was so happy when I told her of my acceptance, she painted me a cherry blossom tree<\/span>,\u201d Henson said.<\/span> \u201c<\/span>My grandma<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s name is Audrey too.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Henson is looking forward to <\/span>the assignment<\/span>, but <\/span>the trip and the topic are<\/span> also intimidating to this young journalist.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Every <\/span>day I wonder if I am a good enough writer and reporter to do this story justice. I’m very hard on myself as a writer and storyteller, so I am constantly wondering if I can take on a story this big,<\/span>\u201d <\/span>sa<\/span>id<\/span> Henson.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Henson, warm and loquacious<\/span>, is also a standup comedian. When she first learned she was awarded the fellowship, she felt <\/span>\u201c<\/span>super weird<\/span>\u201d <\/span>and immediately thought she didn<\/span>\u2019<\/span>t deserve it. Just two days prior to the news, Henson had declared media as her major. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>I was undeclared bef<\/span>ore I submitted for the project, declared my major, then got the fellowship! It all worked out in a very convenient<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>order<\/span>,<\/span>\u201d <\/span>said Henson.<\/span><\/p>\n

Her nerves have been settled somewhat, she said, knowing that she has the support of professors in the journalism program.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>I have the Pulitzer<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Center behind me along with <\/span>Sissel<\/span> McCarthy and my reporting professor<\/span>,<\/span>Adam Glenn<\/span>,<\/span> who support and believe in me, which makes it hard not to believe<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>in myself<\/span>,\u201d Henson said.<\/span> \u201c<\/span>I have a lot of ideas a<\/span>nd a lot of passion for this project. <\/span>So<\/span> I am excited to share my vision with everyone else.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

McCarthy believes the Hunter student is up for the challenge.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Audrey already has a real nose for news and pitched a story that perfectly fit the <\/span>Pulitzer Center criteria, namely an underreported international story of global significance,<\/span>\u201d <\/span>said McCarthy<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Henson is now dealing with the strategic planning of her first journalistic experience. She<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s already received calls from the editor assigned to h<\/span>er from the Pulitzer Center, and Henson and her mother, who<\/span>m<\/span> she refers to as her <\/span>\u201c<\/span>production assistant,<\/span>\u201d <\/span>are pricing things out and trying to find the most useful and wise way to use the $3,000 grant.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201c<\/span>The more I read about my topic, the more I realize h<\/span>ow truly out of place I<\/span>\u2019<\/span>ll feel,<\/span>\u201d <\/span>Henson said.<\/span><\/p>\n

She plans on booking a <\/span>\u201c<\/span>fixer,<\/span>\u201d <\/span>a local hired by a foreign journalist who serves as a translator and guide. Henson<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s mother <\/span>will also go along, easing <\/span>some of the <\/span>22-year-old\u2019s<\/span> nerves. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>She is my travel partner and while I work, she will explore the country. It will be nice to have someone to speak English to,<\/span>\u201d <\/span>says Henson.<\/span><\/p>\n

Henson is already in touch with the Dementia Center in Japan<\/span> and <\/span>is <\/span>trying to learn as much about the topic as she ca<\/span>n in the next <\/span>10<\/span> weeks, including new methods for treating dementia patients being used in Japan. But mostly she will be looking to see how people are coping with this new crisis.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>I’m very interested in seeing the human side of it,<\/span>\u201d <\/span>said Henson as she <\/span>reflected upon her upcoming expedition.<\/span> \u201c<\/span>We are essentially looking at our future, and the scary thing about this disease is that no one is safe from it and it isn’t curable<\/span>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Audrey Henson won a Pulitzer Center grant to report on a topic important in Japan — and personal for her. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":1225,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1227"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1227\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1574,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1227\/revisions\/1574"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}