As my loyal readers know, I obtained my Master of Arts degree in communications in May 2011.  I went back to school two years after finishing my undergraduate degree, with the explicit goal of getting my master’s under my belt so that I could one day teach college level courses.  It’s no surprise that I love to talk and am comfortable in front of an audience!  I garnered the most from educators in my field who worked professionally in the field–they were news producers, reporters, anchors, even sports guys–who knew the ins and outs of broadcasting and helped me develop my love for the industry right from the start.  So I revel at the opportunity to pass on what knowledge I’ve gained from these individuals and my own experiences to others.  Last week, I had the privilege to speak with a group of journalism students at Columbus High School.  I showed a few examples of my work and fielded lots of questions from them.  I was thrilled with how intelligible their questions were.  Yes, they asked silly things too, about getting recognized, dealing with the public, and “Jell-O Wrestling” at Cedar Falls High, but 99 percent of their questions were serious and quite excellent–genuinely wanting to know what it’s like to have my job because many of them are interested in pursuing careers in journalism related fields.  The 40 minutes or so I had with them just flew by and there were so many topics I wanted to talk about but just didn’t have time!  But I’m glad they were so engaged and that shows they’ve already got one of the great knacks to be a journalist–insatiable curiosity and a desire to learn new things all the time.  They have bright futures ahead, indeed!

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