below is my personal statement. I started this earlier this afternoon and with the help of my roommate, Christine, have revised it a few times. I would love to hear your feedback so please read and tell me what you liked and/or didn't like, this will really help me! thank you!
Newsworthy. I have come to see this word as one of the most important, all encompassing combination of vowels and consonants to a journalist. It is a game of cat and mouse, this process of finding a news story and making it your own, but it is also a true test of ones motivation and determination. For where would journalists like Woodward and Bernstein be today if they had not overcome the obstacles and followed their heads which led them to crack one of the most famous scandals in political history? I can confidently say that I too, possess the determination, creativity, and perseverance as a graduating senior from Loyola Marymount University. I currently am part of a program on campus that allows me to live and work with 23 other people, students that have been handpicked due to an outstanding work ethic and commitment to a higher education. So committed in fact, that they are willing to work over 40 hours a week just so that they can pay their tuition. I find this simple collection of 24 college kids newsworthy. Why? It is unusual, for there is nothing like it on any other campus in the country. It has an emotional weight to it, for every single person in this work program has a story. Some come from single parent households where a Jesuit education would have never crossed their minds, others are first generation college students with hopes of graduating a $53,000 a year university debt free. This is newsworthy because in the end it holds a certain value. Our country is trying to climb out of an economic slump and every year families find themselves in a financial struggle when their son or daughter makes the monumental decision to attend college. These are the types of stories that draw a reader in, that will jump out whether the story runs on the nightly news as a family sits down for dinner or is featured online, a popular and convenient source of news for those on the go. As a writer in this age of “new media” I seek to not only inform readers but also to leave them with a new perspective, a new knowledge that they did not possess before they began reading. My education thus far has allowed me to realize that a good journalist might collect data and then write their story but a great journalist is one who transforms their work into a piece of writing that goes beyond just the facts. John Donne described “affliction [as] a treasure”, by utilizing that same perspective I can seek to find the compassion and inherent value that each story possesses. If admitted, I plan on utilizing my time at the Cronkite School to expand those abilities and create pieces that will impact those who read them.
