Scarlett Gully  

MCJ 406 

August 30, 2021 

The start of this fall semester has been a bittersweet moment for me as a transfer and undergraduate student. The pandemic made my junior year difficult for me to be fully present in learning the essentials of a journalist because most of the world was under lockdown for months, leaving my classmates and I to learn and interpret online material. I think the university has helped me decide what I want my career path to be because it forced me to be immersed in the field of communication, and that is what sparked my interest in the wonderful field of journalism. I love interacting with others who can add newsworthiness to a story or photograph that I am covering. I have an interest in multiple types of jobs in this field ranging from Photojournalist, as a short-term goal, to Broadcast Journalist, as a long-term goal. I think this essay is a great way for me to understand my ambitions as a student, so that I can hold myself accountable for assignments, deadlines, reports, and writings that I must stay on top of on a weekly basis in order to achieve the goal of working in the field. 

For me to accomplish my goal, it is crucial for me to submerge myself in it by working for various organizations that practice every aspect that the field has to offer as a job. I think it will improve my ability to move from the world of a student journalist to having a real-world career in journalism. This semester I am working for the Student Printz as a photographer, assisting the Sports Media team with photography and videography, and I will be writing for WUSM radio station three times a week in addition to my required courses. I think that I will be able to manage these three tasks this semester because I have a go-getter work ethic and I am able to motivate myself to obtain my goal of graduating with my bachelor’s degree in December of 2021. 

My strengths include a great camera personality, video editing skills, photojournalism skills, communication skills, interest in print, interest in producing/behind the scenes, interest in broadcast reporting, website/blog experience, and working under pressure. I am eager to learn every aspect of being a journalist, and that is how I know I am studying a field that I truly want as a career. My weaknesses include the lack of experience in the field, low interest in writing, making deadlines, and minor grammatical errors. When entering the job market, I believe that I will be very excited to start the new chapter of my life, but at the same time, I will be very nervous to learn exactly how that specific job wants me to execute my skills as a journalist.  

While working in the field of student journalist this semester, I hope to become a better well-rounded journalist who is able to handle each task at hand. I think I will be able to grasp the job, and I think my determination within my work ethic will overpower any negative aspect that I lack. After graduating, I would like to find a job out of state. I think it is important to expose yourself to many cultures, and the first step for me to achieve that is by moving away from the very state I have lived in my entire life, Mississippi. I believe that it helps to begin putting my name out to news stations, organizations, etc. to help increase my chances of finding a sustainable career after completing my undergraduate degree. Everything is achievable when you put your mind to it. This is the mindset that motivates me to obtain every goal that I set my mind to and graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism is on my list of goals to achieve within the next four months.