10 Ways to be a Successful Journalism Student

Do you want a career where you’re writing for a living, traveling to new locations, asking countless questions and growing your communication skills? Then journalism just might be your ideal field.

Currently, I’m a junior majoring in journalism with minors in political science and history at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It’s one of the most rewarding and enjoyable majors anyone could ever pursue. However, it takes a great deal of time and work to become great in the field.

If you’re a journalism student or aspire to be one, here are 10 ways you can be successful too.

Keep Up on Current Events

Journalists live for breaking news. No matter where you consume your news, one has to keep up to date on all things happening in the world every day. More specifically, this is a must in topics like politics, business, sports, pop culture and more.

Take twenty minutes each day to consume your news. It doesn’t matter if it’s The New York Times, USA Today, CNN, Fox or CBS. Whatever method you prefer, make sure you’re consuming enough to not only understand what’s happening in the world, but to also spark conversation about it with someone.

Keeping up with current events is an essential aspect of any journalist’s life. Start making it a habit today.

Write Every Day

You’re going to have to write every day. There’s no other way around it. You never know when an idea will pop into…