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What do you do?
I'm a reporter/producer/writer for radio and television news.

How did you get your job?
Like anything, you apply a hundred times, get 10 bites and three or four interviews for a possible job. Once you have a job it's easier to get another one. If you're out of work, your job is to keep looking for more work. Not working in what you want to do for a long time is death. You might as well start over at something else. If you go into the dean's office and read the alumni book, look in the back at the number of people who do NOT work in journalism or their major. They may be in a related job, but it's not what they went to school to do. I'm one of the lucky ones - I have done this since graduation.

Best professional lesson learned at the J-School?
How to interview and how to write a resume. What they didn't teach, which I had to learn the hard way were things like office politics and egos. Don't burn your bridges; it will come back to haunt you. I had to learn that early in my career. Remember, if you get fired, it's probably not about you, it's about the person in charge who has problems of his or her own. Let it roll off your back and move on. It's nothing personal.

What would be your best advice to current students?
Study who owns the major media corporations and how they want to use you. Study their labor issues because it's important no matter which side you're on, management or labor/employee. I suspect it's somewhat different in advertising than in broadcast unless you're a sales rep, but read the business section of a major newspaper to find out what's really happening. This business is about money first and last. If you can do the public some good in between, that's great. And read a union paper such as the NABET/CWA newsletter if you're in broadcasting, to get their take on the Bush Admin and Corporate America. Unless you're Michael Eisner's daughter or son, don't expect to run Disney/ABC tomorrow; nepotism plays a large role at the top of the networks.

What is one thing you wish you had done?
I'm still doing it, learning and changing. I've won 22 awards in broadcasting in Los Angeles and although I consider that flattering and important, there are other goals now which are more important to me. Don't be afraid to try even if you fail; that's why I'm going to try some things I was too scared to do before. I don't fear failure anymore.