# @msujschool on Facebook - **Type:** Image - **Original URL:** https://www.facebook.com/1588490806402984/posts/10156047421268666 - **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/68589992-msujschool-facebook - **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/9a8393b774.jpg - **Posted:** 2018-10-12T11:45:00.000+00:00 ## Caption Here is another great #Five4Friday! This series is being reported by PhD student Duygu Kanver. Bryce Airgood B.A. (2016), M.A. (2017) Reporter, The Cadillac News Q: You got both your Bachelor's and Master's degrees from the J-School. How different was your experience as a graduate student? A: Very different, I think more different than I was expecting to be honest. Undergrad was more hands-on journalism, going out and writing stories. Grad school was more about dealing with concepts and learning how to conduct valid research. It's hard to explain, but grad school is just a different level of thought. It takes more discipline as you might only have class once a week, but the homework assignments are not something you want to wait last minute to do. Although I do have to admit I may or may not have done a 200-page reading assignment in one day and maybe cranked out an entire 16-page paper the night before it was due. One thing that was similar in both my grad and undergrad experience, though? Wonderful professors and instructors who inspired me and helped shape me into the journalist I am today. Q: What skills you earned during your education here turned out to be the most useful in your new job? A: Definitely organizational and communication skills as well as the fundamentals. The J-School is the first place I did a cold phone interview, the first place I positioned a source's face in my camera's frame, the first place I ever wrote a news story. Although I have learned a lot through various jobs and internships since then, MSU gave me the basics I needed to get those positions in the first place. Q: You won prestigious scholarships and graduated with an outstanding GPA. How did you manage to achieve that? (How was your study routine?) A: Let's just say I did not get a lot of sleep in college. I spent a lot of time working and participating in different organizations, but my philosophy was that I was at MSU to be a student. It didn't make sense to me to pay for a class and then not try my hardest to get a good grade. That sometimes meant only getting 30 minutes of sleep at night to study for a stats exam or to put the finishing touches on a documentary for class. Or, though I probably should have done this one more often, saying no to a night out with friends. It's all about balance. You know what you can handle. As for the scholarships, I would always check the application requirements way ahead of time to see if letters of recommendation were required. If so, you want to give yourself like a month to get those. You don't want to email your professor the night before a scholarship is due asking for one, that's not cool. With scholarships a lot of it is about putting yourself out there. I probably applied for ten times the amount of scholarships that I actually received. You have to try. If you don't try, how are you going to get it? Q: What advice do you have for current students who are considering grad school? A: Make sure you are passionate about journalism and learning before you decide to do it. Grad school is a big commitment and if you're not passionate about the material you're going to be miserable. I love journalism and I love learning, so although it was very challenging and stressful I loved it and wouldn't change a thing. Also, keep in mind grad school isn't for everyone, especially in the field of journalism. When I was considering grad school, one of my MSU mentors told me you have to think about if it will benefit your future plans. For me it was a great as it gave me time to gain more experience before heading out into the real world and because I would love to be a journalism professor one day. For someone just wanting to work in the field, it might not be the best thing for them. Q: What excites you about the future of journalism? A: I think the future of journalism is an exciting place. I think specifically it's going to be really interesting to see how journalists use social media to gather ideas and craft stories. Some news outlets are creating Facebook groups for their coverage areas so they can get input directly from the community about what they want to see covered more. I think this is brilliant for both getting story ideas and to share your stories directly with an audience you know will be interested. Also it's pretty great when you can use social media to live stream an event like dogs at a water park or a gathering of corgis in Grand Rapids. The future's very bright. ## Stats - **Views:** 0 - **Likes:** 20 - **Shares:** 6 - **Comments:** 5 ## Tags five4friday --- Copyright (c) Gondola