Ball State U: Change Begins in the Classroom - Sara Nahrwold - MediaBizBloggers

As I write this, I have four more days of class to round out my freshman year, followed by the dreaded week of finals. It went by incredibly fast and I am almost a sophomore. My decisions to come to Ball State, and to become part of the Emerging Media Journalism Program, are two of the best decisions I have made in my life.

In case this is your first time reading this blog, I will quickly tell you about the Emerging Media Journalism program at Ball State. I suggest you read the previous ones for a more in-depth look at the program. In a nutshell, the program prepares today's journalists for a career in an ever-changing field of journalism. From the moment a journalism major steps on campus, by being a part of this program, they learn how to tell stories on multiple platforms -- Web, broadcast and newspaper/magazine. This learning experience prepares them well for a career in a field that is constantly updating its technology and ways of transmitting information to people. As a freshman, I have had classes dealing with newspaper writing, Web writing, and broadcast such as audio and video classes. This program is one of few in the nation and is preparing me for a career in a number of areas of journalism.

To give you an example of something that I do in a classroom setting, I will tell you about a current class that I have. In this class, we are writing for all three mediums -- Web, text, and broadcast. For my first assignment, I was given information in class and I had to write a quick online update about that information. Then outside of class, I had to find further information and write a print story and a broadcast reader. My second assignment was similar. I had to cover a speech and write an online update as if it were posted right after the speech, a radio wrap as if it aired right after the speech and a print story that would run in the next day's paper.

In that same class, we are discussing how to cover news conferences. In this program, we not only talk about future assignments we might cover as reporters, we do cover them. (So to speak.) The last assignment we have is a live news conference. For this assignment, we have to research background before the conference, and then produce information from that conference. Before the conference, we will write an advance, then cover the speaker, and do an online story before class is out, and afterwards write a newspaper story and broadcast wrap. As you can see, my classes at BSU are preparing me for a career in journalism in a number of different avenues.

Although this is just my first year of college, I look forward to three more years at Ball State in the emerging media journalism program and expanding my skills in many different mediums. With this program, I will be able to find a job in newspapers, magazines, broadcast television, radio or online. I enjoy learning about all these different types of mediums and perfecting my skills. Like I said, the media world is changing constantly, and Ball State is preparing me for that change.

I hope you continue to read my blog and see what Ball State journalism and telecommunications is all about as well as the emerging media program. Hopefully the next three years I will have many experiences to share and will continue to show why Ball State's emerging media program is one of the best, if not the best, program in the country for those pursing journalism or telecommunications in this media changing world.

Until next time, carpe diem.

Sara Nahrwold is a freshman journalism major at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. She is from Ossian, Indiana, close to Fort Wayne. She has written for theBall State Daily News, the campus newspaper for the features section. She also has a weekly column for the paper entitled “Nahrwords.” Sara can be reached at snnahrwold@bsugmail.net.

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