Tag Archives: Journalism

Introductions and First-Year Assumptions

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Greetings! My name is Stephanie. I am a current first-year and an excited new CP&R blogger. I am really looking forward to share my experiences and my knowledge about all career-related things through this outlet in the coming months. In this first post, it might make sense to offer some background about where I come from and what I have been up to in my time at Scripps.

I was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. As I came to understand the fast-paced way of life in the cultural, social, and political hot spot over time, I also quickly determined how I hoped to one day contribute and fit in to this engaging society.  Very early on I was drawn to the art of communications.

In August 2012, Claremont became my new home. With a naïve, yet determined, belief that I knew exactly how my future would turn out, I resolved that English and Media Studies would be my intended fields of study, as these subjects seemed to correspond with my interests in journalism.

As the weeks went on, I became more familiar with the opportunities offered by Scripps life and less confident in my initial decisions regarding my major. G.E.s, cocurriculars, and a plethora of interesting people have a way of wedging open narrow mindsets. It did not take long after interacting with these engaging influences to determine that my interests span across a wide variety of disciplines; this both excited and worried me.

By the end of my first semester, I was unsure of what I wanted to study and more anxious than ever before about not knowing what could happen in my future. Upon registering for spring classes, I decided to continue with my G.E.s so I could keep dipping my toes in different subjects without committing wholly to one field. Politics, environmental analysis, anthropology… is it possible to study everything? My expanding brain unwittingly relinquished the control I once felt I had over my future, and I ended up where I am now, in this spring semester, on unsteady feet. How is it possible that I will be declaring in one year?

Despite my wary attitude towards The Great Unknown (as I have since renamed my future), I have found that the mind-stretching quality of college has been a great blessing.  Without awareness of all the paths, the ideas, and the opportunities that are out there (to which I have become somewhat privy in my short time at Scripps), how could I have ever known what I wanted to do?

So what have I learned? You do not need to know exactly what you want to do with your life before entering college; an open mind is actually extraordinarily helpful! Part of my college experience has been learning along the way, and because of this I hope I will have confidence in the path I decide to follow… as I figure it out. This summer I am pursuing an internship with a nonprofit organization around the Bay Area with the intention of better gauging and understanding potential career options. I will be detailing all these experiences through this blog in real time! With the help of CP&R, I look forward to making The Great Unknown a little less daunting and a little more tangible without losing any of the excitement.

How do you become a writer?

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One of the questions that always stumped me on campus tours came from parents who, after learning I had self-designed a major in creative writing, would ask the inevitable and mostly innocuous follow-up, “So do you want to be a writer?”

This question was always difficult for me not because I didn’t know the answer (it was, and I suspect always will be a resounding YES! I do want to be a writer! I want to be the next JK Rowling and create a world that readers fall in love with and—less importantly—make more money than the Queen. I want that!). I was not ready to admit that answer. When I did answer their question in the affirmative, I was sometimes met with, “hmm, that’ll be difficult.”

For me, part of what makes a career in writing terrifying is not that it is a more difficult path, but that there is actually no path at all, or if there is it’s too amorphous to identify. You could work hard your entire life, have an incredible talent, and still die destitute and unrecognized. This is the kind of thing that fills me, the parents of Lena Dunham’s character on Girls, and probably those prospective students’ parents with utter terror.

Even so, I’m determined not to lose the motivation and momentum I built around writing. I don’t want to look back one day and refer to writing as something I used to do in college. For my senior thesis, I wrote historical fiction, so here in Bulgaria I’m trying my hand at travel writing. Now that I’ve passed the most volatile stages of culture shock, I feel I’m ready to finally write insightful, informative, possibly pithy, articles about living in Bulgaria, teaching English as a second language and international travel.

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My sophomore year, I took Writing 100 (Advanced Topics: Arts + Culture Review) with Professor Drake. Around spring break, we covered travel writing, and I found it was one of my favorite subjects in the course. I’ve loved the Travel Channel for as long as I can remember, eating pizza rolls after school in front of the TV and watching Samantha Brown.

I started submitting writing to publications this past year. In May, I won third place for my piece on Copenhagen in a student travel writing contest for Transitions Abroad. It was the first time I was paid for my writing in a non-Scripps context and it was empowering.

I was determined to do more travel writing when I got to Bulgaria, so I read Robin Hemley’s A Field Guide for Immersion Writing: Memoir, Journalism, and Travel. You can read my full review here. It was an informative read by someone who demonstrated himself to be an expert in the field. By the time I was done I had dozens of ideas percolating in my brain.

But I still didn’t feel like I had a direction. I didn’t know the next steps. So that’s why I bit the bullet and finally enrolled in Matador U’s online travel writing course. I’ve been reading the Matador Network’s helpful articles on writing, and so I’m excited to work through the course, which covers some topics that will be new to me, like a “publication mindset,” new media and SEO, and travel writing markets.

Wish me luck and persistence—I know I’ll need both!

Are you a writer? What kind of path are you building?

“I’m the greatest star,” as told by a girl who dreams of being Fanny Brice

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Do you ever wonder what it would be like to live a life you know is not meant for you? Maybe one day you could be the president of the United States. Or, you could train hard enough to be an Olympic figure skater. Or, what if you could find the cure to cancer? Many of us have childhood dreams about what we want to be when we grow up. I, for one, always dreamt of being a Broadway star. For some of us, those dreams will come true. For others of us, we’ll re-evaluate situations, find new passions and work towards goals that differ from what we originally saw our life becoming. I, clearly, am not in pursuit of a life on the stage (that pays the bills). But, I think in a lot of ways, I have learned a little bit about how to keep my childhood dreams alive in both my personal life and my professional life. So, thus begins the story of how the Midwestern little girl, who lived, breathed and dreamed of being on Broadway became the college student, excited about a career in journalism, who only day-dreams about originating a pivotal role in musical theater.

I was a ham when I was growing up. I wore my dance costumes around the house. I directed plays of my brother and me in my living room. And, when my extended family would gather for dinner on Friday nights, I would make everyone get in a circle and play a game called “Punchanella” that basically involved me singing and dancing for everyone in the room. By second grade, I was able to channel that energy into theater classes. Soon, I began to imagine myself starring in plays that had an audience consisting of more that just my family. I studied Idina Menzel, Barbra Streisand and Sutton Foster, longing to be like them one day. And, I dreamt of standing ovations, Tony Awards and sold out crowds. But, that’s all it was for me: a dream. Some people are able to fiercely go after their dreams, work hard and become determined to succeed. And, I admire that greatly. But, personally, I always knew that my life would lead me other places. When I approached the college application process, it was the first time I began to really contemplate what I realistically wanted to do with my life. I left high school with so many passions and interests that it seemed as though my mind was changing every day. One minute, I’d be determined to be a history teacher. And the next minute I’d contemplate going into arts education. Right now, neither of those possibilities are remotely close to the path I am currently on. I took an internship at a locally based news network this summer that ultimately changed the way I look at my future. After my internship, I became fairly certain that I want a career in broadcast journalism. Here’s why:

1. Just as I love working on a show and seeing it come together, I love watching news stories develop. I love being in the newsroom with the producers and watching the line-up come together.
2. While one of my favorite parts of theater is writing original work, I love writing news pieces just as much.
3. The part I love about being on stage is commanding an audience’s attention. While I may not be garnering attention by belting out a high B, reporters have a responsibility to get the attention of the public so that everyday people are educated about the world around them.

So, my life isn’t exactly what I thought it was going to be. But, when you take a closer look, it’s not all that different either. I have found a career path that excites me, challenges me and seems accessible in the future. And, while I realize that I will never be the next Babs, the most important part is that I haven’t lost my inner Fanny Brice. The shower is my karaoke bar, class presentations are my stage and if you see me strutting down Wood Steps you can bet I’m pretending to be the dance captain of this school. “I’m The Greatest Star” Fanny Brice

What did you dream of being when you grow up? How are those dreams impacting your life today? Are you living your dreams in some way? I hope you are.

Sweet Dreams,
Laurel

Doing my Part to End the Gender Gap

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The facts surrounding the gender gap in the professional world have been drilled into my head repeatedly through attending Scripps and through my regular reading of online feminist media like Jezebel and Feministing. However, despite my disgust with the information I was reading and my desire to take action, I had never absorbed the statistics I read as applying directly to me.

My brain had somehow compartmentalized the gender gap information into a folder of interesting information that didn’t affect my life. My career, my dreams, my goals, they couldn’t possibly be limited by percentages quoted in articles.

I never paused to consider that each factor in those percentages was a career full of hopes and dreams just like mine until I read “Promote Women: Use Your Network to Solve the Gender Gap” by Ann Friedman and Amanda Hess (an article posted on Good News, which I discovered via Feministing). This article focused directly on the media industry – the exact field I’m looking to enter – and indirectly referenced statistics from the Women’s Media Center, which found that the media world is overwhelmingly male, and the gap is only growing.

However, instead of sharing the statistics and moving on, like I had allowed myself to do so many times before, the article placed me (and every other reader) in the center of the problem, stating that, “Reading big statistics, it’s easy to place yourself in a bystander role. You acknowledge that women are underrepresented in your industry … You know that they are far less visible, and probably paid less, than men of equal experience. You’re frustrated … But what have you ever done about it?”

The article then walks readers through steps to help alleviate the gender gap. First, think of three women in your industry who are under recognized. Then, think of three powerful contacts in your industry who could assist them. Finally, email the influential professionals and recommend your female friends.

Admittedly, it’s not an overnight solution. It’s not even a solution I can contribute to at the moment, as I’m lacking in influential friends. But it’s a solution that can work.

For now, I’m going to take advantage of the process by forgoing the middleman. In my search for a summer internship, I discovered that I’m only two degrees removed from an education writer at the San Jose Mercury News. When I found out they don’t offer traditional summer internships, I was going to let the chance for contact drop. Now, I’m preparing an email to initiate communication. Because, who knows? Maybe she’ll be the professional who knows a professional who can help me do my part to help end the gender gap.

“Oh, you’re an English major?”

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There are two common responses when I say I’m an English major: “Do you want to be a teacher?” or “Ah, so you want to work at Starbucks.”

While I can respond definitively that no, I don’t want to work as a professional barista forever, teaching is a less black and white career choice for me. I’d love to teach, but I feel like I’ll need quite a few more years learning before I can take on that responsibility.

To that, there’s only one response: “So, what do you want to do?”

I’ve never understood why “What don’t I want to do?” isn’t an acceptable answer.

I want to be a writer. That much is clear. In terms of my day job, I’ve considered journalism, publishing, editing, really anything that will allow me to get my opinions out there in the medium I love – the written word.

A little less than a year ago, I was deciding between starting my new life at Scripps or at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. One of the (many) reasons I ultimately chose Scripps is that the field of journalism is changing rapidly. With new technology constantly shaking up the industries I’m interested in, how could I possibly be certain a position I want would still exist by the time I graduate?

For the most part, I’ve accepted that I can’t be sure about my future until the future of the fields I’m looking at starts to settle down a bit. And then I stumble across an article like “Not All College Majors are Created Equal” from the Washington Post. (An article that, by the way, I read after Facebook informed me a friend had read– further testimony to the adjustments newspapers are making to stay relevant.)

“I have this game I play when I meet college students,” columnist Michelle Singletary declares. Her game is, based on a student’s major, guessing if they will get a job upon graduating. “An English major with no internships or any plan of what she might do with the major to earn a living? No job.”

I would like to point out that any major “with no internships or any plan” will likely fail to get a job, but the fact remains that English majors are most doubted. And such public declarations of doubt, especially when made by someone working in a field I’m considering, don’t do much for my confidence in my dreams. Or, should I say, my confidence that I should give myself time to choose my dreams.

Nonetheless, for now I’m sticking to the appetizers in the metaphorical meal of my career. I did an internship at my local newspaper last summer; maybe a publishing house will be next. This way, when it comes time to order my main course, I’ll know what’s on the menu, and I’ll be ready to feast.