You can tell a lot about a person based on his or her most recent Internet searches. Take mine for example: the Stamp Student Union Friday Showcase, health incursions as a result of excessive Netflix use and President Obama’s remarks on ISIS were the most recent things I’ve searched. You can maybe peg me as a performing Netflix-fanatic with an interest in political science, but in reality, I’m just a journalism major. And I love it.
People think studying journalism is about learning how to sit for makeup before a broadcast or how to print facts on a page, but it’s about so much more than that.
I spend my time learning about the incredible effect of the media on people, consuming news articles and reports as though they’re candy and, best of all, writing.
Journalists have so much to do with people’s everyday life. We entertain, we inform, and we put in a lot of work for little monetary compensation.
Journalists are expected to be there. Whether that means snapping a photo of a riot in Washington, submitting a column on time or throwing themselves into a completely new realm of reality, journalists are there.
I have full faith that my journalism degree will take me where I want to go because the possibilities are endless. Reporting is a lot of things: tedious, time-consuming, stressful — but never boring.
I can choose one field and learn about one thing for the rest of your life, or I could report on anything and everything under the sun. I could learn to stitch words together and create meaning. I could learn to grab the life around me and sculpt it into a written masterpiece. I could learn the pride and responsibility that come with seeing my byline on a paper.
To be given the chance to put my words into the hands of hundreds or thousands of readers is incredible. I’m determined to use my writing and reporting skills to tell people what’s going on in the world.
Think about how you found out about the assassination of Osama bin Laden or why you thought to call your relatives in New Jersey when Hurricane Sandy hit. We need journalists, whether people realize it or not.
Samantha Reilly is a freshman journalism major. She can be reached at sreillydbk@gmail.com.
