Four
University of Texas School of Journalism graduates conversed with current students on Thursday, January 17. The alumni- Jazmine
Ulloa, David Muto, Jackie Vega, and Suzanne Haberman- shared insight on their
college experience, career moves, and opportunity-building.
Jackie
Vega, a 2008 graduate and digital reporter and content producer at KXAN- Austin,
formerly interned at the television station before working there full-time. She
explained to the students the significance of acquiring the right internship.
“You
want to do an internship somewhere so you can get a real life, hands-on,
in-the-market industry experience,” Vega said. “If you’ve got an internship, if
you’ve got the tenacity...the energy…the motivation, the drive and the
determination to get your foot in the door…then you can get a job.”
Vega
also advised the interaction with others working in the journalism field.
“At
least have a conversation with somebody who can pull strings or somebody who is
making the decisions,” she said.
Less
drawn to reporting, Muto worked at The
Daily Texan at the copy desk for two years and interned at The Texas Tribune prior to graduating in
May 2010. He attributes his internship and eventual hire as the Tribune’s copy editor and editorial
assistant to networking.
“One
of the reasons I actually got the Tribune
internship was because I knew people who were interning [there] after it
launched and they just referred my name to the editor,
Evan
Smith, and he got in contact with me,” Muto said. “I probably would not have sought
that out had that not happened, so yeah, I think internships are great.”
Muto indicated the uncertainty of
post-internship job availability to the students, but noted ideal qualities in
case such a transition should occur.
“I
think some things to keep in mind are that you want to be assertive, you want
to stand out definitely, but I also think that if you want to make yourself
indispensable, you need to do so quietly,” Muto said.
Following
her internship at the Austin-American
Statesman, Jazmine Ulloa remained in close contact with those who worked
there, and now works as their courts reporter. Ulloa stressed the value of
colleague interaction to the student audience.
“Don’t
burn bridges because it can come back later,” Ulloa said. “There wasn’t a
job when I graduated [in 2009], but I
came back to it and it was because I made friends with editors there…they were
the ones letting me know that jobs were out there before they were even
posted.”
Texas Co-Op Power magazine
writer and 2008 graduate Suzanne Haberman worked as a freelance writer during
her college years.
“I
worked all through college so I didn’t have time for a regular internship…so I
sought out freelance-writing opportunities at different publications around
Austin [including Orange] and wrote
articles as often as I could,” Haberman said. “So those developed more skills
than networking, I think, but those became just as reliable as knowing
someone.”
Haberman
recommended that students considering freelance-writing aim for depth in stories
fit for respective publications.
“The
first thing to do really is to delve in and try to understand the magazine or
newspaper or whatever venue it is, that way you’re suggesting a story that is
along the lines of what they would of actually published. And go from there,”
she said.
Along
with work experience, the panel discussed intuition about staying in journalism
to the audience.
“It’s
normal to feel like you can’t do it, and it’s normal to think that you’re
questioning, or thinking about this career twice,” Vega said. “Don’t let that
be the determination but also, do pay attention to that feeling.”
Kayla
McDaniel, a recent UT School of Journalism graduate, decided to take her
journalism degree and go into law school, and is currently working in the Office
of the Governor.
“Though
I started out set on being a broadcast reporter, I found myself more and more
attracted to the legal field,” McDaniel said. “When I’d cover something at the
Capitol, I was so interested in telling stories about policy makers and legal
processes…I [then] decided I wanted to be on the other side-creating the
policies and fighting for my cause.”
Journalism
senior Ashley Meleen agrees with Vega on continuing journalistic engagement.
“If
you feel like something isn’t right for you, you shouldn’t feel like you have
to continue,” Meleen said. “If you’re not passionate about something, the
difficult times are going to be even more difficult and you’re not going to
enjoy it.”
Meleen
admits altering some aspects to her journalistic plans, focusing on multimedia
instead of news reporting in college, and doesn’t regret those decisions.
“It’s
allowed me to try different things and find aspects that I really enjoy,” she
said, “and I think finding something you love is the ultimate goal.”
