mission statement

For me, journalism two things. First, it is a sneaky way to for me to indulge my complete nerdiness and be in a job/educational path where I constantly learn about new things. If it weren't for journalism, I'd be one of those all-over-the-place college students, switching from art to science to economics to English and graduating in seven years with no idea which area I'd want to sit down and focus on for the next four decades of my wage-earning years.

The other reason I pursued journalism was because the only thing that really has been constant in my relatively short life has been an interest in reading and writing. I read everything. I really think my brain is abnormal because when I look at a magazine page or a posted sign or whatever, my eyes go straight to the text and ignore the pictures altogether. I read things that no reasonable person would read: the safety card in the airplane, the junk emails in my inbox, shopping lists found on the grocery store floor. I just love to see how other people express themselves, especially when they're no doing it expressly for editors or serious readers (as journalists and book writers usually are). Writing is pretty fun for me too, but I get a little awkward writing about myself or about fictional things. So non-fiction seems ideal.

My journalistic dream is, very generally, to travel somewhere interesting and write about it. This could be in shorter freelance pieces or for a book, eventually. In five years, it's difficult to tell. I should graduate in two, with degrees in Magazine Journalism and Environmental Studies and a minor in Economics (ok, so I went all over the place anyway). Anyway, after graduation I'd like to go to a smaller magazine somewhere in the Northwest for a couple of years, interning or maybe even getting paid. Lately I've been thinking I'd really like to do an internship at High Country News. At the end of that, I would ideally be hired by National Geographic. I know this probably won't happen, and I also know that if my tastes and goals continue to evolve at the rate they have been, I don't want to make plans now that I'll blow off in a year. So normally I evade the "where do you see yourself in five years" question by making a serious face, giving the National Geographic answer, and then we all have a good laugh and the questioner moves on.

So there's the mission. It's based in a lot of things I've thought over quite a bit, so although it may not be the most solid plan ever, I have faith that it will work out in a way that's best for me. If not, and I end up working at a porn shop in Eugene, I'll have good material for my book.