# @msujschool on Facebook

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.facebook.com/1588490806402984/posts/10156013311458666
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/68589999-msujschool-facebook
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/8b9b245bf1.jpg
- **Posted:** 2018-09-28T12:00:02.000+00:00

## Caption

Moddy note: every Friday we will be highlighting one of our FANTASTIC alums. If you would like to be part of #Five4Friday, DM us!

Sasha Zidar
BA in Journalism, 2018 graduate
Current Job: Intern Reporter for The Grand Rapids Press/MLive Media Group

Note: My internship with MLive ends in December 2018, and I’m currently looking for a job in the Michigan area!

1. How did your J-School experience prepare you?
Throwing me out of the classroom/lecture and having the opportunity to do man on the street interviews, TV packages, photography, the list goes on.

Every class I’ve ever taken at the J-School, even when I thought I knew everything, benefited me. It may seem like assignments are becoming repetitive or you may never use certain editing programs, blah, blah, blah, WRONG. The J-School over-prepared me for my journalism career and I couldn’t be happier. If you’re not practicing your craft every day, someone else is getting ahead of you!

2. Biggest career challenge you overcame at MSU?
Figuring out who I wanted to be in the massive pool of journalism. Here’s the thing, you may change your mind a million times but focus on an area that you know is your strength. Journalism is not just writing, you’re telling a story. How you choose to tell that story is up to you, don’t be afraid to try new things and figure out what you’re good at. The MSU J-School is a time for finding that out, don’t wait until you graduate.

As far as my biggest challenge at MSU as a whole? Cutting out toxic people and balancing my social life.
When you’re at school your responsibility is your education and your future, don’t let other distractions bring you down. You are attending MSU for a reason.
Also, if you want to go to Rama at 11 a.m. but you’ve got a class at 10:20 a.m. on a Thursday and you skip…Your professor will know and you’re not fooling anyone. Find a balance because if you don’t, those bad habits will follow you after you graduate.

3. What do you miss most about MSU?
Football season, the fall weather, walking around campus, The State News, my college friends, the ducks and fat squirrels. I literally miss everything about MSU and I’m mildly depressed about it. Take it all in because when you leave, you have a whole new love and pride for MSU.

4. What advice do you have for current students?
Apply for internships, join clubs and job shadow! Use all your resources because you have an endless amount at the MSU J-School. Once you graduate, the connections you build in college may help you land your next job or internship.

5. What do you love about your current position?
Working at MLive has made me realize what I want to do in journalism, which is make social media videos and TV hosting.

I pitched a YouTube channel called High End Homes, which was a photo feature before I started at MLive. But I decided to use that photo feature to create a YouTube channel where I’m the host and I interview the homeowners or realtors about their million-dollar homes in Michigan, kind of like a mini HGTV. It’s done very well, and I’ve had the opportunity to make more videos the last few months and I will be doing more social videos on top of High End Homes. I took a risk on something I believed I was good at and I don’t regret a thing.

Here is a link to one of my High End Homes videos: https://www.google.com/amp/s/articles.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2018/08/grand_haven_church_transformed.amp

Good luck to everyone in the J-School now! If you ever need advice or have questions, feel free to reach out to me. 

GO GREEN!

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five4friday

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