How the Statesman changed my life

If you read through an edition of the Utah Statesman, you’d probably notice spelling errors, grammar mistakes or even misspelled names.

We’re an imperfect student newspaper, by all means. But that’s the beauty of the Statesman. We are a newspaper run entirely by students — most of us have little to no journalistic experience coming in.

Last year, the Statesman won a total of 33 newspaper awards. While I wasn’t a part of the team when this happened, I’m honored to say I get to work with and learn from award-winning student journalists.

I spent the majority of my freshman year of college depressed, unmotivated and just generally lost. I hated my major, I didn’t have very many actual friends and I wasted a lot of time doing absolutely nothing with my life.

I almost failed out of college both semesters. I think it’s safe to say I hated my life.

Up until a few months ago, I thought the life of a journalist included sitting around stirring up controversies and attempting to write about it. I pictured journalists as these monstrous people who just tore people’s lives apart.

But everything is subject to change.

The Fall 2016 semester began and I met my new roommate. She told me she was a journalism major. She explained the program to me and told how much she loved it. I told her how much I hated my psychology major and that I enjoyed writing, but I had no interest in studying it. I didn’t think there was a possibility of making a career out of a journalism degree.

She told me she had just finished an internship at a professional television station and how she planned to get a job in the field right after graduation.

I then showed her something I wrote and she told me I belonged in the major. To summarize the rest of the story, she’s essentially the reason I’m here writing this. And that simple conversation changed my life. (Thanks, Brenna Kelly.)

Since I’ve worked at the Statesman, I’ve been happier than I ever have in my entire life. I’ve made amazing friends and learned more in the last six months than I had in my entire four years of high school and first year of college.

I began taking journalism classes this semester, and at this point, I can’t imagine spending my life doing anything else.

A former Statesman writer who now works at The Salt Lake Tribune once told me being editor-in-chief of the Statesman is what prepared her for her job more than anything else.
This encouraged me because I often worry that I won’t make it in the journalism world. I worry the industry is too competitive. I worry I’m not as good as others who will be applying for the same jobs as I am, but knowing I’m gaining real-world experience throughout the majority of my college career puts my worries at ease.

— Alison Berg is a sophomore studying journalism and communication. She is from San Fransisco, CA and hopes to write for the Washington Post someday. 

@alison__berg