You don't always see journalism majors, but we're here...running around campus doing something for an article or a news package, working in the journalism lab for hours at a time, or maybe just trying to catch up on some sleep. Being a student journalist isn't easy, but we love it. All the late nights and uncomfortable interviews are worth it because journalism is one of the most exciting fields to go into.
1. When your friends ask you if you're able to hang out it's usually while you're working on an article.
2. You live by the Associated Press Stylebook.
A word is never what you think it is.
3. Getting a bad grade on an assignment for one of your journalism classes almost always results in a life crisis.
4. Triple-checking your facts and STILL spelling someone's name wrong for an assignment in your journalism class pretty much feels like a slap in the face.
5. People tell you "good luck going into a dead industry..."
Public service announcement: don't ask me what my major is if you're going to judge me for it. All my theater friends and I are not planning to stop what we're doing any time soon. Getting a job is difficult, but I like what I do enough to take that risk.
6. But you know they're wrong because you're a fantastic reporter and no one can stop you.
You mean to tell me I have to write paragraphs that are longer than one sentence? That's crazy.
8. You constantly engage in awkward interactions with strangers because you need a quote from them for an article.
9. The sound of your voice sounds terrible when you're playing back an interview on your recorder.
10. Speaking of interviews, transcribing interviews is THE WORST.
11. Writing stories about accidents and crimes for your news writing classes used to be a little uncomfortable but somehow, hit-and-runs and robberies just don't phase you anymore.
12. You haven't finished homework for your classes yet because it was a busy week for the campus newspaper.
13. Trying to be objective is difficult when you have strong opinions on the topic you're writing about.
You don't want to lose your news voice, do you?
14. You sometimes work on two or more articles at a time and you haven't seen your friends in a few days.
15. It takes you forever to think of a good lead for a story, but once you think of one, you feel like it's the most amazing thing you've written.
16. You notice mistakes in an article you wrote after it gets published in print.
17. You feel like you're not working to your full potential on weeks that you don't have an article for the campus newspaper.
18. You hate when people use the Oxford comma.
19. You've been told that you have to have other multimedia skills but you hate making videos.
20. You constantly question whether this whole "journalism" thing is for you or not...
21. But you know your profession is a great one. You get to tell stories, seek the truth, and keep the public informed. As appealing as joining the circus sounds sometimes, it's not as cool as being a journalist. So keep writing and reporting. You got this.
