Cubert was one of four winners selected for the six-week fellowship June 3 to July 13 at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla. She also won a scholarship that will pay for the cost of the program.

"I am excited to be immersed with so many different people who are the cream of the crop. I will have a chance to pick their brains and get inspired," she said.

This experience will have long-term benefits for Cubert and her career, journalism instructor Ryan Sparrow said.

"Poynter is a fantastic place to broaden her view of what the industry is like, and she will be very marketable after this experience," Sparrow said.

The Poynter Institute is a premier training center for young journalists and professionals who want to improve their writing, designing and photojournalism skills. The institute teaches through seminars and hand-on experiences, while offering personalized, guided instruction.

Participants are selected for the summer fellowship based on submitted work and interviews.

Cubert is the Ball State chapter president of the Society for News Design (SND); graphic editor for The Daily News, Ball State's student newspaper; art director for Expo, a student-run magazine; and a designer for J-Ideas, an organization that works to increase excellence in high school journalism.

Cubert entered a competition to win a spot at Poynter while attending the SND annual workshop in late August in Orlando.
 
"They got rid of the regular application process. Instead you had to create a graphic about what you learned during the workshop, and then go through an interview process," she said. "I used sketches I had seen during a presentation as an inspiration and let myself go on the paper."
 
The winners were announced at a luncheon Cubert didn't attend. She was unaware she won until an intern contestant, William Couch, congratulated her.

"I was so shocked, it was kind of astounding," she recalled.
 
Cubert graduates in May. After her summer at Poynter, she plans to return to Ball State to pursue a master's degree in digital storytelling.

By Chantel Arsenault