-: I think the most important thing
for any student journalist is to
get involved with student publications.
I mean, when you are applying for an internship,
when you're applying for jobs,
what you've done in the classroom is probably not enough.
You need to have something published with your byline,
either in a student paper or if you can swing it,
doing some freelancing for a non-student publication,
but just writing for a classroom
or having your own personal blog,
even if it's stellar, is not enough.
What you can do in a classroom
or even at a student publication
there are certain limitations to that.
I wanted to be religion reporter
and there were a few instances
where I was able to write religion for the Daily News
and for what was then Expo, is now Ball Bearings.
But that, I mean, they're not religion publications.
So that wasn't that easy.
I kind of had to you know fabricate
those opportunities for myself.
So I think there is to show additional skills
that you may not be able to have at a student publication.
So if you're really into coding and you can't,
you know there's not a space
for you to code for Ball Bearings or Daily News.
Yeah, absolutely your own website.
Or everyone should have a website, first of all,
everyone should have a website.
I think if you have a clear view of what you want to do,
and if you don't have a clear view,
have a clear plan of getting a clear view
of what you want to do,
and then find the people who are doing that.
For religion journalism I think one of the most
key groups to be a part of is Religion News Association.
And they are, they bend over backwards to help students.
They've got a free competition, the Chandler Competition,
which has to be a published piece that you put in.
So it can't be on something you wrote in a classroom.
But it's a free competition and if you win
you go to the conference,
the Religion News Association Conference,
and everyone is there who writes religion,
from the New York Times, Laurie Goodstein,
who is the religion writer there,
writers from the Washington Post,
all of the religion reporters are there.
And just being there and talking to people,
getting business cards, talking to people on Twitter,
like all of that that happens,
but you have to be involved.
You have to know what you want to do
and find the people who are doing it,
and you'd be surprised how many people want to help you.