San Jose Mercury News editor Elliott Almond and photographer Nhat Meyer visited the seventh period newspaper students today to speak about their experience reporting at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics.

Almond and Meyer traveled as part of a group of three delegates from the San Jose Mercury News. Almond talked about the life of a reporter while covering a major world event, such as the Olympics.

“Just seems like it never ends, like a treadmill,” Almond said. “Add all this touting, tweeting, blogging, and trying to write stories, it’s sometimes overwhelming.”

Meyer has covered four Olympic Games, two Super Bowls, three World Series, and several other major sporting events. As a photographer, Meyer had a grueling schedule while in Sochi. He usually carried two to three cameras and lenses with him at all times and arrived at the event more than two hours in advance to secure a spot with good visibility.

“I worked eighteen to twenty hours a day,” Meyer said. “We would sometimes catch up to four buses in order to reach the mountains where the events were held.”

In order to give the class a broader view on life as a reporter and photographer for the Mercury News, the pair also talked about the demands of their profession.

“My job is to bring back the most important news for the reader,” Almond said. “Good or bad.”

Gallery • 5 Photos

Kshithija Mulam

Elliot Almond speaks to students about his Olympic experience while Nhat Meyer's pictures flash across the screen behind him. Almond and Meyer both attended and reported at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics as representatives of the San Jose Mercury News.