When college students go to a class on the first day of each semester, they often hear pitches. They hear pitches for Greek organizations, campus ministry organizations and organizations within their respective majors. These pitches often come from fellow classmates and peers. Sometimes, however, they come from professors. The professors aren’t always pitching the student organizations for which they are the adviser; they advertise and advocate for professional organizations of which they are members.
Professors who encourage students to join these professional organizations don’t just do so in their classes. They share more detailed information about the organizations during the meeting times of the student organizations.
One organization in particular that has been introduced to us at The Prairie over and over again is the Society of Professional Journalists. SPJ has a mission “dedicated to the perpetuation of a free press as the cornerstone of our nation and our liberty,” as stated on their website. It exists to promote high ethical standards in the profession, maintain constant protection of First Amendment rights and to foster excellence among journalists and aspiring journalists.
At least two members of our editorial board are members of SPJ, and it has provided us with opportunities we wouldn’t otherwise have. Being a part of a professional organization has allowed us opportunities to travel, learn and grow as individuals and young professionals.
Each year, SPJ holds a national conference. In 2014, this conference was in Nashville, Tenn. Editor Megan Moore had the opportunity to travel to Nashville not only to attend the conference, but to present as well. She had the chance to speak to professionals in journalism about the first Global News Relay that West Texas A&M University participated in.
At the conference, she had the opportunity to attend innumerable sessions put on by well-cultured professionals. She brought home new ideas and understandings of the profession to share with our entire staff.
SPJ also sponsors national and regional awards contests each year. This year, Associate Editor Alyssa Bonner won a regional Mark of Excellence Award. Finalists and winners were recognized at the regional conference in Oklahoma City, Okla. At the conference, she was also able to attend sessions conducted by professionals on various topics within the field of journalism.
Both Moore and Bonner also attended other conferences recently where they were able to partake in professional development sessions conducted by professionals. Moore attended the Power of Narrative Storytelling conference at Boston University, where she expanded her knowledge of not on journalism as a whole, but in narrative storytelling and feature writing. She networked with other students who will be attending graduate school at BU and with professors who also contribute to publications like the New York Times.
Bonner attended the Public Relations Student Society of America’s National Assembly. PRSSA is an organization which fosters the growth and professional development of aspiring public relations professionals. At National Assembly, Bonner also attended sessions conducted by professionals, and she participated in electing next year’s national officers, who will represent the organization as a whole, university chapters and chapter members.
This week members of The Prairie and Eternal Flame are traveling to San Antonio to attend the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association conference. We submitted content from our publications to competition in December. Winners and finalists will be announced at TIPA. We will also be attending professional development sessions and competing in on-site competitions.
By attending these conferences, we are allowing ourselves to grow as professionals while making connections.
