A time of reflection- My experience as a journalism major

I’ve been a journalism and mass communications major for about two and a half years, but I can honestly say that I’ve developed as a journalist the most in my Advanced News and Feature Writing class this semester. To be honest, some of my JMC classes were just informative with little room to develop as a journalist, so I was bored to tears. In my other  classes I had a lot of writing assignments, but I just couldn’t seem to get the grasp of them. Even in my News Editing and Layout class I struggled. That was difficult for me because I knew I wanted to be an editor and wanted nothing to do with being a reporter. As the semester is winding down, I’ve realized that if I don’t become an editor, it’s not the end of the world because I am a pretty good writer (if I do say so myself). I think it’s because, unlike the other JMC classes that I’ve taken, I’ve been pushed to not only write the story, but to find it and develop it.

I was originally an English major with a concentration in secondary education. A semester in the major let me know that wasn’t where I wanted to be, so I applied for the JMC program, thinking there wouldn’t be such a huge difference. When I found out that despite my aspirations to be an editor I was going to have to do a lot of writing, I wasn’t too fazed. Then I struggled. I’m the type of person where if I can’t get it in the beginning then I get frustrated and feel that I never will. Luckily, through my time in the JMC major, I learned the art of perseverance. I’ve had a couple of professors who would give me the constructive criticism that I needed and inspired me to work harder. Even after a rough semester I knew that I had to just jump back on that horse (so to speak) and get the job done. Now I’m confident, not only in my abilities as a journalist, but also in my potential for the future as a journalist.

To be completely honest, I was never really cut out for college. The fact that I was a first generation college student and lazy plus a lingering case of ‘senioritis’ explained why I just never really did the work if I wasn’t interested. All this time I figured that I wasn’t as smart as everyone told me I was in high school. The surprising part of it all was that when I had an active interest in the class, I almost always walked away with a B or better (unless I just really didn’t get it, like the News Editing class). I even got an A in Geology, which is a science course  about rocks (I hate science and it was much more than 'just rocks', but I was hooked).  Some advice that I would give to any college student, whether starting out or as a veteran, is to find what you’re passionate about, or at least interested in. You’re going to be here for at least four years, you may as well enjoy it.

The biggest, most important piece of advice that I can give to students entering the JMC major is to– are you ready? —GET AN INTERNSHIP! It doesn’t matter if it’s unpaid, off campus, goes at ten o’clock at night; it’s so vital to get one. I didn’t get one because of work and, honestly, a fear of failing. Now I’m behind my peers as soon as I enter the workforce (I’m not just being dramatic, a journalism professional told me exactly that). I’m not terribly worried though, as I’ve found a couple of unpaid opportunities that will build up my resume, but it would’ve been so much easier to get one prior to this. Another piece of advice to potential JMC majors is to join at least one JMC club or organization. This will increase your networking abilities, plus it’s another bright spot on your resume.

As my time at UNC is coming to an end I’ve done a lot of reflection. If I could do certain parts over again, like attending class (whoops) and getting an internship, I undoubtedly would. Yet I’ve learned so much here in the process. It’s taught me that, as obvious as it seems, when you put your mind to it, you can do anything.  I’ve also learned to wear my JMC major as a badge of honor, because anytime I tell someone that’s what I’m getting my degree in, they always comment on how interesting that is. The lesson that I’ve fought for years, but learned to accept this semester, is that I do have potential as a journalist. Journalism may not have been my first choice, and it's even been a constant source of frustration for a couple of years, but considering all that I've learned I don't regret my time in the major one bit. You may never read my work in a newspaper, or see a page that I’ve edited in a magazine, because who knows what the future holds. But based on what I’ve learned in my time here, I hope that you do. 

How it went the second time around- writing about Catholic and Jewish worship services

For my second article in my Advanced News and Feature Writing class I wrote my story on a day in the life of a Catholic church and a Jewish synagogue.

The most difficult part about writing this article is that I chose to write about two places of worship instead of just one. From here I had to make it to both places, gather information and devote the story to both as equally as possible. 

The easy part of writing this article was gathering information. St. Mary's, the Catholic church, holds daily masses, including several on Sundays, so I was able to stop by a few times and make my observations. Beth Israel, the synagogue, didn't have as much access but when I did get in I got a lot of good stuff. The day was Purim, which is a day of celebration in Judaism. I was able to sit in on a potluck and worship service and there were several people who were very friendly and helpful.

The biggest lesson I learned through my research is that a tape recorder is very helpful, but if you're going to use one either have several tapes on hand or join the 21st century and get a digital recorder. The problem that I ran into with writing this article was pretty much the same as before in that I get frustrated with not being able to share all the information I gathered. Again, this is a matter of sharing the most important and compelling information. 

I feel that I interacted with the people in this story better than my last one. For my first story I was very nervous and intimidated when talking to people (hopefully they couldn't tell!) and I think this time around I was much more at ease. Also, I was better prepared, but I learned that procrastination is a habit that's hard to break. Again, my point of weakness is AP style. However, this time around I'm going to claim illness as the reason why; I got a nasty (yet undiagnosed at the time) ear and respiratory infection shortly before the article was due and was struggling to finish the article. I always have trouble with AP style, but I'm going to hope that I would have learned my lesson from the last time had I not been so miserable. I suppose we'll see in the next article. 

Start from the top- my first topic on my beat

For my first article in my Advanced News and Feature Writing class, I wrote about the East African Muslim community in Greeley.

The most difficult part about writing this story was completing the interviews. First off, I never really had to interview someone for a full story, so I was definitely intimidated by that aspect. Also, when I did go to get my interviews, it was really hard to get the timing right to meet with the subjects, as they were largely unavailable when I was available. It got to the point where I went to the mosque, or Muslim place of worship, five times in one day just to speak to the religious leader.

The easy part of this, if there was one, was that I had background knowledge of Islam going into this assignment. Of course it wasn’t nearly as extensive as that of Muslims but it did help, especially in going to the mosque (I already knew that I had to have my head covered before entering and that there were separate prayer sections for men and women).

I learned quite a bit from the research that I did. One thing I learned was that the Muslim community in Greeley isn’t as ostracized as I had previously thought. They’re actually pretty well integrated at this point. Another thing that I learned was that Fridays are the main days of worship for Muslims, similar to Sundays for Christians. I also learned that there is an East African market on Eighth Avenue. I paid a visit and while it’s small it’s very interesting to see.

From the writing process I learned that even though you may have really great information and lots of compelling quotes, you’ve got to prioritize it all. When I first completed the paper, it was around 1700 words; the maximum word count for the assignment was 800. It was heart wrenching to cut my piece down as much as I did, but that’s the way it goes in the world of print journalism. Plus, it’s not as easy as just deleting paragraphs; you have to still maintain your meaning. The rewriting taught me a lesson that I’ve been ‘learning’ for years: I have to work on my AP style. This is a style of writing specifically for journalism and plays an integral part in the grade that we receive on assignments in class. As a former English major, this has always been my Achilles heel.

One thing that I did well in this story was telling the story without a lot of ‘fluff’ or unnecessary wordage. One thing that I can work on in the future is allowing ample time to work on a piece. It’s not the writing itself that’s the problem, but for this it was the getting out and talking to people that I took my sweet time with. Unfortunately, all that dragging of the feet put me into a frenzy the days before the assignment was due. The ordeal also gave me a catchphrase that I’ll (hopefully) use in the future: Persistence pays, but preparation pays more!