The Study of Journalism: Interview with Nicole Hillstead

I’m 19 years old and starting my second year of college at BYU in Provo, UT. I’m from Auburn, CA and will forever be a Cali girl.

I love the sunshine and being outdoors. I’m an avid runner, writer, and photographer. I find my inspiration comes from nature and thus I live for the outdoors. I’m an adventure seeker, and always up for just about anything. I hope to someday be known by more than just my family for either my photos and/or writing

Tell us about your first semester as a student journalism student.

Well I actually took two classes my first semester and a 3rd class my second semester. I could tell right off the bat that this was the major for me because those three classes were the only ones that I honestly looked forward to going to.

I’m a student at BYU and there are three prerequisite classes you have to take before you apply to the major, so the first basic class teaches about the theories of Communications and the world of media.

The second class is a little more hands on with the actual writing aspect of journalism. In this class we got to go out and interview people every week and write articles according to the things that we were learning in class.

And the third class was about the history of media and journalism, and then a little about where journalism is going in the future. I’m now in limbo mode as I prepare to apply to the Communications Print Journalism Emphasis major in September. Wish me luck!

What frightens you as a future journalist in a turbulent economy?

What frightens me most about journalism in general is the fact that it doesn’t ensure a steady income.

Most journalists are freelance writers and only get paid when they’re working on a specific piece rather than being paid on a salary. I feel that in a turbulent economy this kind of job can be a scary one, especially if there’s no other source of income.

Another worrisome thing about the future of journalism is how it is currently changing.

Newspaper, what was once believed to be the main title of journalism, is dying. New forms of online entertainment and social media are becoming the “new journalism.” So if you’re not willing or able to change with the technology the job as journalist could become obsolete.

Where did your love for writing begin?

My love of writing began when I was in elementary school.

I’ve always enjoyed writing creative stories, mostly of fantasy worlds in which things are out of the ordinary. By the time I was in 6th grade I had notebooks full of little stories and ideas for books.

Later in high school I took a creative writing class which taught me some of the other styles of writing including even things like poetry. It was that creative writing class that led me to write a child’s short story for my senior project, and what eventually swayed me to study communications and journalism in college.

What do you hope to do different from other journalists?

The first thing I hope to do a little bit differently from being like every other journalist is to incorporate my photos into my stories.

I love photography and have been taking pictures almost as long as I’ve been writing. However, there are many others out there they do just that as well, so I’d like to make a name for myself by taking a turn on the stories in a way I haven’t found many other journalists do.

I like to write stories from a different perspective, stepping into the shoes of a person that others may not have thought about including. This is oftentimes really difficult to accomplish, I’m still working on the tactics of it all, but I hope to become a pro at this so that I’ll be someone people look to for interesting stories that are still full of information.

How often do you practice the craft of writing?

When it comes school time my writing practice definitely goes up quite a bit due to the kinds of classes I’m taking at college. I actually really enjoy when I get to take communications classes because the writing assignments are really interesting and they get me to write creatively and more often.

When I’m not taking classes I try to keep up my writing skills by writing little articles and what nots about things that I do. For instance, if I go to a farmers market, or a 5k race or something in the community I like to write my own little take on the day.

Another way I enjoy practicing the craft of writing is through everyday journal writing.

I’m an avid journal writer and I enjoy turning my everyday life into a story that my children could someday read.

After studying journalism in college, what was different from what you expected?

Well, before I had started to actually study the art of journalism I honestly didn’t even know there was a generic format for an article

We learned all the different formats an article can come in, but for the most part it seems journalists use a format call the “pyramid,” so we really worked on this format and that’s what most of my assignments were written in.

I also didn’t realize how involved in current events journalists have to be, so I learned to read the New York Times every day and keep up with my current events. Another thing that took me by surprise in my basic communications class was that there are actually “theories” in the media world, so apparently theories aren’t just for the science majors.

What’s the hardest part of journalism?

I believe that the hardest part about journalism is being unique.

Many people just have a knack for writing and the stories that they write are appealing to people. For people like me who don’t just have a talent like that it’s difficult to make sure all the elements are in the story while also sounding appealing to the audience. While others can just write and sound beautiful that’s something I have to consciously think about when I’m writing.

What advice would you give to someone interesting in studying journalism?

Advice that I would give someone interested in studying journalism would be to start early and never stop.

Start writing about the things that go on in your town, family, backyard, anything. This way you’ve got some really good practice in and the classes and assignments given will come a lot more naturally.

I also advise that you stay updated with current events. Read the newspaper, watch the news, and stay current.

Journalists have to know what’s going on all over the world not just where they live.

What do you hope the future holds for you?

My fantasy future would be to work for one of those amazing photojournalist magazines like Nature or National Geographic because the work in those magazines are highly regarded and if you ever work for a place like that you automatically gain respect from everyone else in the field.

But, I do realize that this is a large feat so my more realistic future is to be able to travel for the first few years of work as a photojournalist, and get to see some unique places and creatures.

Then later down the road I’d probably just become a freelance journalist so that I can still take care of a family.

Related Posts:

1. The World Of Blogging & Design: An Interview With Dru Darby
2. Interview with Mitch Mitchell of I’m Just Sharing
3. Interview with Stephen Perkins: A Teen Entrepreneur

Tagged as: byu provo journalism, journalism, journalism byu provo, nicole hillstead, nicole hilstead, study of journalism, the study of journalism