Career Advice

It’s been exactly one week since our return home from Germany. Even though I’m pinching my pennies, I would like to say that this trip was well worth it.

Not only have I taken a lot of great photos and memories, but information and life experiences that not everyone gets to have. I wanted to go to Germany the previous summer and almost didn’t go this year, because I knew I couldn’t afford to go. And if you’re a journalism student contemplating whether to study abroad, I suggest take the opportunity and run with it.

Honestly before we left I wanted to go simply because I wanted to experience something new. But I never realized the knowledge I would walk away with.

At every media appointment we asked, “What would you say to a journalism student aspiring to work for you?” And a response that stuck with me is if you have the chance, travel and experience different cultures. There’s only so much you can learn in a classroom about a foreign language. Get out and apply that knowledge.

For many of the media professionals I realized that they have a very different mind set on future plans. It seems like there’s no rush to find a job right after graduation, but it’s more important to work on becoming a well rounded journalist. Having the knowledge of what works in other countries is going to set a journalist apart from the rest.

For me it’s always been pick a career, have a set plan, go after it and basically follow the course. But after visiting Germany I feel the best thing to do is take as many opportunities as I can now, I have the rest of my life to get settled into a job. The trip has made me more open minded and aware of career options that I might have overlooked in my life.