How To Feel A Part of Newhouse As A Graduate Student
When being a Broadcast and Digital Journalism graduate student, you’re only at Newhouse for 12 months and then spend your 13th month, either in Washington, D.C. or elsewhere. You’ve heard of the all the possibilities you could have, from networking to working with school outlets. But the reality is, you don’t have the same amount of access/time as the undergraduates. As graduate student, yes, your time is spent in Newhouse and you are covering some news within the university limits–but most of your stories and shooting will be done in Syracuse and surrounding cities.
Class-wise, the only class that allows you to do campus stories and work with the undergrads directly is Mornings on the Hill with Professor Lysak. I say this because the show is produced, shot and edited by students; the focus group of the show is geared for students of Syracuse University. However, most professors will tell you that even though this is true, you should strengthen your work by utilizing stories that come about from the city and enterprise it for the student audience so you can use it in your media reel, or just look at it as practice for your personal benefit. This class is open for the Fall and the Spring semesters while you’re enrolled and can benefit sports and news emphasis.
Sports-wise, you have the opportunity to work for the ACC Network and cover multiple games as a color analyst, play-by-play reporter, announcer and more. There will be times where you will be able to travel to away games as well and have photography opportunities and on-camera work.
Then there will be some times when you feel you should be doing more. As a new student who will only be at Syracuse for 12 months, it can sometimes be intimidating–but don’t fret. That feeling does pass after just a short time. This I learned with that–practice, practice, practice. This allows me to take some time to not only work on my craft but also get out in the community and meet people–students and people who many tell me I should know, that I would most likely enjoy. With being able to create stories of my interest, as practice, I can cover just about anything. But I can also get a byline reaching out to outlets such as The Newshouse or being apart of the Newhouse Insider graduate blog.
You have many opportunities to feel one with the Newhouse Mafia, as many call it once you’re completed. However, it’s all dependent upon what you as the student does. One of the many things Newhouse is known for is networking. This line still happens to ring true. I’ve learned how to truly network like no other since being a part of this program, and you can too. It’s as easy as starting off a simple conversation with someone you might not usually talk with on a daily basis, or even one of your favorite teachers/professors. That then leads to a conversation that could lead you to meeting someone else and upon greeting them, an opportunity may arise. You never know unless you try and that’s something that is scary yet so exciting. So, if you’ve learned anything from this piece, it’s to try. Step out of your comfort zone, out of your norm and be your authentic self, willing to grow and you’ll be shocked at the results.
