Journalism majors don't have it easy. We're constantly being asked why we chose "a dying profession" or how we're going to make a living off of being gossipers or what not. But it's more to it than that. The profession only continues to grow as more innovative pathways are introduced. Young adults are picking up on this and more journalism majors are coming forth.
However, with being a journalism major comes some...quirks.
Not sure about what I mean? I'll help paint a picture for you. You might be a journalism major if:
1. You spellcheck literally everything
Signs, forms, restaurant menus...whether you're aware of it or not, your eyes will skim across and stop at each and every spelling mistake. And you might cringe, or you might even turn to whoever you're with to point it out and ask (somewhat sarcastically), "Dad, what's a frish cake?"
2. You're constantly correcting other people's grammar
Whether you're doing so out loud or vehemently whispering or thinking it to yourself, it's just become a habit. Or you might be a little passive aggressive over the amount of times your own grammar has been corrected. Probably both.
3. You actually stress out or panic when you make a typo for others to see
If you notice the typo seconds after you post, you'll delete the post just as fast and repost it with the correct word as if nothing happened. If you only notice it later and God forbid someone points it out, you'll insist that you meant to do that or that it's a new word while you scream on the inside.
4. It's actually almost painful to try and read "txt tlk" (let alone try to write it.)
OK, so maybe using the letter 'u' to replace the word 'you' isn't so bad. But when you start taking necessary vowels out of words, suddenly you wonder how the person was even able to understand their own writing.
5. You have a weird vendetta against the Oxford comma
Weird to others, but perfectly justifiable to you. All your life you were taught (in English class) that the Oxford comma was a must... that is until AP suddenly said you shouldn't. So now your life is a lie and you're upset. See...justifiable.
6. The word "deadline" makes your heart beat a little faster
You hear it all the time, so your brain has been conditioned to associate the word with "less sleep and happy times for me."
7. The news just kind of makes its way to you, some way or another
10 percent of the time, it's because you actually looked up the news. The rest of the time, someone probably either told you about it, showed it to you, or you stumbled upon it on your own on BuzzFeed or Yahoo!
8. Meeting the word count gives you the utmost joy
After squeezing as much as you could from your sources and your research, it's finally complete.
9. Going over word count actually makes you die a little inside
Well. Time to go back in and see which mostly relevant sentences I spent the last hour writing can be deleted from this article.
10. Posts like this on Facebook make you incredibly happy
Yes! (Insert clapping emoji.)
11. You know the pain of thinking your draft was great but then getting it back full of corrections
Haha, be right back, gotta rewrite my entire freaking paper.
12. Transcribing audio from an interview is actually death
Mind you, this is not an exaggeration. I promise.
13. You have a true joy for writing and sharing it with the world
Even through all of the hardships and weird quirks, you enjoy what you do and wouldn't trade it for the world.
