When I look back at the time I spent here, though, I can't help but wonder how much of that time was actually put to good use.
I spent the first two years of my education completing the required gen-ed courses. I took classes like chemistry, bowling, women's studies, calculus, sociology, cultural studies, and even stress management -- and for what? Some of these classes were interesting, some I took just because they sounded like an easy A, and some for no reason at all.
It wasn't really until my junior year that I even began taking courses relevant to journalism. Finally I was taking classes like newswriting and magazine writing, and finally learning the skills I really needed. My junior and senior years were filled with interesting and exciting journalism courses. I found myself looking forward to going to class and interested in assignments and reading. Now, in my final month of studies, I feel that I am just in the middle of learning.
I feel that there is still more for me to learn about journalism, and I find myself disappointed that it took me four years to get to this point -- and now, it seems to be coming to an abrupt end.
I know that those gen-ed courses served some purpose... I'm just failing to see what it was. I cant help but feel that I had only started these courses four years ago instead of two, I could have had time to learn so much more, and I would be much more confident as I attempt to enter the work force.
I write this post as an assignment for my senior capstone class, Advanced News and Feature Writing, the first class in which I truly knew I was learning skills I would use. This class has been a great experience. The practice I got from writing news stories and features for this class makes me confident that I can write stories worthy of publishing in the future. The other benefit of this class is that we are working to create a website designed to showcase our work. It is great that all of our hard work in this class will be published in a public place so that I can share it with friends, family, and even future employers.
In three weeks when I receive my diploma, I will be able to honestly say that I received a great education in journalism, as for the rest of it, though, I'm not so sure...
