This is probably going to sound like a very unlikely scenario, but please bear with me for a minute. I am currently a first-year dental student at the
University of California San Francisco but have found the work and experience so far rather lackluster and not as interesting as I had originally foreseen. I have, however, developed a passion for journalism, contributing a weekly column to the
UCSF student-run school newspaper and frequently writing pieces for
OhmyNews International, an independent news Web site. Let's say I were to choose to leave dental school (something I am still very unsure about at this point) to pursue a career in journalism. What would be my options?
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The problem is that since I had never envisioned a career in journalism during my high school and undergraduate years, I mainly focused on an all-science curriculum, taking one or two English classes here and there, but I have no experience interning at a local paper or taking any journalism courses. I realize that in this respect, I come at a great disadvantage, but I would be willing to put in the long hours and work to strike out a new direction if I were to make the decision to do so. I am an avid reader of monthly/weekly publications such as
The Economist,
The American Prospect,
The Atlantic,
Wired and
Mother Jones, in addition to the usual national newspapers and local
McClatchy affiliates.
I would greatly appreciate any advice or suggestions you could offer me. Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.
Jeremy
You are at a greater disadvantage if you train hard for a career you are not suited for than if you come late to one you really love.
First of all, you were not wasting your time studying non-journalism subjects. Quite the contrary. They make you unique. Your challenge is to find a way to apply that knowledge.
As to making this switch at this stage: Take a breath and invest some time in finding out whether journalism is really well suited to you. Visit local newsrooms, try to write for them or go in and do some work there. Pay attention to the atmosphere and whether the skills and work that are needed suit your talents and abilities. Even though you love writing, not all great readers or writers find that a newsroom feels like home.
A great deal of the work has to do with interviewing people, researching public documents or listening, and the pace can be frenetic. Right now, a great many newsrooms are changing to offer more -- text, photos, audio and video -- online. The newsroom you would be preparing yourself for is not going to be exactly like the one that exists today.
If you decide that newsrooms and the direction they are heading are for you, it will be time to recalibrate your studies and to get work published that can lead to internships and jobs. If you like the sciences you have been studying, these would be rare commodities in most newsrooms and could lead to beats in health, medicine, technology and business.
Coming Thursday: She worries that an almost-10-year-old article that lives online will be seen by prospective editors, killing her chances.
