My UNC Journalism Experience

I have been a student in UNC's journalism program for a year and a half, and have fully enjoyed all my classes associated with the program. The only thing I have ever been disappointed in is that they cap the number of hours journalism students can take of JMC credits.

I love journalism. When I first started taking classes, I wasn't so sure if I had picked the right major, but now that I am facing the prospect of joining the "real world," I know there is not a better career suited for me. Thanks to classes like "Reporting Contemporary Issues," "News Editing and Layout," and "Advanced News and Feature Writing," I feel prepared to join the journalism community.

I took six of my journalism credits overseas in a study abroad program through The University of Southern Mississippi. I took the Introduction to British Journalism, and I feel very privilaged to have had the opportunity to have experienced this. I would highly recommend the program to anyone considering study abroad, even if not for journalism because they have amazing classes for business, art, music, physics and more.

To students just starting the major, don't get discouraged, especially in classes with Dr. Lynn Klyde-Silverstein. Her classes may be difficult, but you learn so much.

Klyde-Silverstein assigns a beat in Reporting Contemporary Issues. Every other week the class attends the Greeley City Council meetings. Our very first meeting, there was a debate about a driveway not meeting zoning regulations that lasted nearly two hours. In another meeting, Greeley residents petitioned to allow dogs in more parks. Despite the long hours of heated debate with some people repeating their arguments and never bringing new points, the meetings were actually quite interesting, and my interest in governmental bodies helped my choose my beat for Advanced News and Feature Writing.

For this beat, I covered UNC's Student Representative Council, as shown by this blog. When I first choose the beat, I figured they had a smaller population of people to represent, so they had to have shorter meetings. I was very mistaken in that. The final Student Fee Allocation Meeting lasted four and a half hours. On the other hand, last nights meeting barely lasted an hour.

Overall, I have loved my time as a JMC student here. I could not have chosen a better program to study under, and I wish I had more time left. It will be different out in the real world, but my education has prepared me for it.