Recently, I shared three things to keep in mind for students in Journalism school. To be completely honest, myself and other journalism students - specifically seniors - could write a novel series about the things that we've learned during our time in our respective programs. But I hope that my experiences will benefit any young students in their respective journalism programs. So, here are three additional things that journalism students should keep in mind.
1. Don't compare yourself to others.
I touched on this in the last article, but as a student journalist, competition isn't necessarily the best thing. Everyone grows at their own pace, and comparing your growth to another journalist is a dangerous thing. In some respects, it can stunt the growth of a student journalist because it becomes easy to get down on yourself and lose confidence in your ability, as well as your potential. Everything will fall into place if you work hard, so have faith and don't give up. If someone else understands a concept, see if they'll help you instead of comparing how far along they are to how far along you are. Mentally, being your own person and growing at your own rate is the best thing.
2. The AP Stylebook is key to take you to where you want to be.
One of the best investments that any journalist can make is purchasing an AP Stylebook. There are so many helpful tips, guidelines, and just overall information that is beneficial for all journalists. If you're like me, the AP Stylebook is extremely humbling because it shows me how much I'm doing wrong and what I need to improve upon. Knowing the proper AP style rules will help stories get written quicker, but more importantly, get published sooner. Proper AP style makes life easier for editors because they spend less time correcting those mistakes. If you're a student, your professor will more than likely take off big points (fairly or unfairly) for grammatical mistakes. Professors have told me to "check my AP style," on multiple occasions and I've lost some points because of it. Take it from me, save a grade buy a Stylebook.
3. Lastly, this is school, not life.
A friend of mine said it best, "school is nothing like the real world, so don't be discouraged." This statement is entirely true. Even with a class as insane as Advanced Reporting, it's still school; not the real world. School helps prepare us for the real world and with journalism, and experience is the best teacher. You can have discussions and take quizzes on how to cover breaking news and natural disasters, but you won't really understand and grasp what it is that you're learning until you've experienced it. The key is trusting what you've learned and having confidence in yourself. But until that time, don't let the rigors of school discourage you. Enjoy the journey.
Journalism school is quite the journey. But the good thing about it is that if you make it through, you learn some cool things that you can pass on to the next generation of journalists.
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