Writer and Designer, Information Networking Institute
What do you do in your current position?
I am currently the marketing communications associate for a department within the College of Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I work for the Information Networking Institute, which offers graduate degrees in information networking, security and mobility. My responsibilities are writing, photography and video, graphic design and social media management. I am also the writer and designer for the INI’s annual print magazine, and serve on the board of the Carnegie Mellon Women’s Association as co-vice president for marketing and events.
What is your favorite part about your job?
What I love most is taking complex technical topics and presenting them in a dynamic way through written and visual storytelling. Carnegie Mellon is home to pioneers and innovators in the tech industry, which makes it an incredibly exciting place to work. On a typical day, I’m writing feature stories about alumni working at Google, Facebook, Uber and other top companies, designing social media campaigns about cybersecurity awareness and data privacy, and photographing students on campus for recruitment materials. I’m using all the skills I learned at TCNJ, but most importantly I am flexing my ability to learn new ones. That’s probably the most important thing TCNJ taught me about the field of journalism and communications: it’s always changing and you have to be able to adapt.
What made you choose journalism?
I chose journalism because I love to write. It was amazing to spend three and a half years (I lost one semester as a biology major before switching to journalism) writing all sorts of things, from feature stories on medical marijuana legalization, dangers of fracking and criminal justice reform to detailed analyses of media law and ethics. It was also incredible to have interdisciplinary opportunities, such as an IMM course where I learned HTML and built my own portfolio website. Both jobs I have had since graduating required significant amount of web and graphic design capabilities, and I think that moving forward students in the journalism field must be able to do it all.
Tell us about the importance of getting involved in student media at TCNJ.
I’m a huge proponent of gaining additional writing experience on campus beyond internships. I co-founded TCNJ’s chapter of Her Campus, which added another platform to the media mix on campus. Whether you’re writing for The Signal, Her Campus, Ed@TCNJ, or another student outlet, you’re definitely building your portfolio and that can only help you in the search for internships and, eventually, jobs.