Meet MercerMe: Brian Chin

MercerMe is committed to Hopewell Valley and to transparency. While we’re all local, “Meet MercerMe” features introduce readers to who’s covering our news!

Brian Chin, a junior at Hopewell Valley Central High School, has been interning for MercerMe since the spring of 2020. Since then, he has contributed approximately one article per month on a variety of topics.

“I especially enjoy and specialize in writing articles promoting local businesses,” Chin said. “I have covered retail stores, independent medical practices, and more.”

He has also been at the forefront of MercerMe’s efforts to highlight individuals and organizations who have been helping the community in exceptional ways during the pandemic. 

There are a multitude of reasons why Chin interns for MercerMe. He explained, “I’ve always been fascinated by the power of the press to influence people’s opinions in a positive way. I want to use my reading and writing skills to better my community, and MercerMe is the perfect opportunity to do so.” 

When asked why he chose MercerMe, Chin stated, “As I was looking for an internship opportunity in the spring of my sophomore year, I found that MercerMe was the only established newspaper willing to give high schoolers a chance to intern with them. The organization actively supports my interests and gives me leads to follow up on I’m generally interested in. I’m so grateful for the owners of MercerMe for being willing to do so.” 

For Chin, the experience of interning for MercerMe has been extremely rewarding. “I’ve loved talking to all kinds of people through my internship at MercerMe. It’s really expanded my worldview,” Chin stated. Practically, Chin has also mentioned how writing for MercerMe has drastically improved his communication skills, integral for his classes in school, and life in general.

Outside of school, his internship at MercerMe, and his other activities, Chin enjoys playing tennis. Chin explains, “I’m a huge fan of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. I follow all of their matches and try to model my own game after them.” Besides tennis, Chin also follows other sports including basketball. “I don’t have one particular team I’m a hard-core fan of. However, I do love watching LeBron and rising stars like Zion Williamson play ball,” Chin stated. 

“I would highly recommend any high schooler intern for MercerMe. You don’t have to want to pursue journalism in the future. I think you’ll be surprised at the multitude of benefits you’ll incur from this experience,” Chin said. 

If you would like to intern for MercerMe, please contact mary@mercerme.com and amie@mercerme.com.