As a journalist, you will be in a very unique spot to spark interest in readers, bring to light a certain topic or be a force for change. In most cases, you will work for a news organization or a newspaper. Your workplace will be fast-paced, frenetic and extremely exciting. If you love to write and make stories, journalism may be the perfect career for you. Indeed, there are a lot of reasons to benefit in journalism when you are in college – not to mention that you may get opportunities to travel the world. Here are five reasons to major in journalism.
- You Get to be Creative for a Living
One of the biggest benefits of studying journalism and getting your degree in the field is that you get to be creative. If you love writing and telling stories with words, journalism will offer you a career where you get to live your dreams. If you’ve always loved to put pen to paper, you may want to consider about majoring in journalism. For instance, University of San Francisco has some great journalism programs.
- There is Camaraderie
In the journalism field, there is a lot of camaraderie. If you work in a newsroom, you will be around many of your peers all day long, pitching stories and discussing the news of the day. There is a chance that you will be freelance, but even then you will be able to talk to people all day long. One of the benefits of being a journalist is that you learn to strip away some of your social anxieties, which can help you talk to complete strangers and ask them tough questions. One of the basic tenets of being a journalist is always asking questions.
- You Get to Work in an Exciting, Fast-paced Environment
If you enjoy a fast-paced, frenetic energy in your work place, journalism may be the career for you. Much of the frenetic energy comes from needing to break stories and find sources – but the other half of it is deadlines. A story may break and it will be up to you to get the news out before a competitor newspaper does. With the Internet, it is becoming harder and harder to break news stories.
- There Will Be a Lot of Travel Opportunities
On top of being able to work in a frenetic work environment, you will also get to travel. This is especially the case if you become an investigative journalist. You may actually be traveling around the world for your stories, which could take months to complete. All the while, though, you may be flying from country to country to get your story.
- You Will get to Make a Difference
Of course, though, that story that you spend months working on could people’s lives. This is especially the case if you are unveiling corruption in a certain industry or criminal activity. Your article could come out and change policies. In the end, when you get your major in journalism, this exciting burden to get the truth out may be one of your driving ambitions.