University freshman journalism students from two different states were surveyed to study the influence of high school publication experience on journalism career aspirations, perceptions of media credibility, and use of media. About half the students surveyed had worked on high school publications. These former staffers were compared with the students who had not worked on scholastic publications. The findings indicated that former staffers most enjoyed writing on a high school publication, though layout was a close second, and that staffers were more likely to be interested in magazine and newspaper work, while nonstaffers were more interested in advertising careers. The findings also showed that staffers decided much earlier to go into the communications field, with most deciding during high school, while very few nonstaffers made the decision before reaching college. Staffers and nonstaffers perceived media credibility differently, but the results were only statistically significant for one of the states. The media use results indicated that former publications staffers used more media--read more newspapers and news magazines, and watched more television news--than did nonstaffers. (HTH)