How did you get started with the Daily?
My freshman year, I met this girl in my zoology lab because I was pre-med and she had worked at the Daily and really liked it a lot. Both of us hated our zoology class, so once a week every week we would go to Crossroads and get milkshakes and talk about how we loved writing and didn’t want to be pre-med. Now it’s funny because I’m a senior and she’s my roommate. I joined second semester freshman year and have been there ever since and switched my major to journalism.
What was your major before journalism?
It was international studies pre-med. I had this notion that I wanted to work for Doctors Without Borders and that’s why I did that. Then I switched to just international studies because I genuinely like it, but as I went through the Daily and saw the sort of training and workshop behavior that some higher level Gaylord students were experiencing, I knew I wanted that. I changed to journalism and had my international studies credits become my minor.
Do you know what you want to do after college?
I actually have no idea which is just funny because I’m very particular about things. I guess my life is organized chaos!
Has your family influenced your career path? If so, how?
My family has not influenced this decision. They were very hesitant for me to not be pre-med. They just always wanted a math or science to be a part of my education because they believe that those fields are shown to give a consistently high income. They have always been the kind of people that have always been very financially aware, so ya me kind of switching to journalism without any math or science background is very scary for them. There is no consistency in this field or the promise of a consistent income which is very nerve-wracking for them, but they also see how much I do want to do this with my life, so I think that has helped them become more supportive.
What advice would you give someone pursuing a degree in journalism?
Definitely, definitely, definitely join the Daily if you are doing journalism. I think being at the Daily versus another journalism organization gives you real life practice. You see a level of quality and real journalism through our work. Organizations through Gaylord are very practice oriented and ours is very real. We do view ourselves as this campus’ news organization and we take that very seriously. This isn’t just an after school activity for us, it’s very real. We do provide a service on this campus. If you really want to do this with your life and you get the opportunity to do this with your life, I think you owe it to yourself to take that opportunity.
Where did you start off at the Daily?
I started off as a news reporter and a designer. I would report during the day and design the paper at night. Then I moved on to being what was called community outreach editor and I did collaborations with different organizations on campus. That was the goal and so in that role I did a mental health series which I spent a large portion of the semester doing that had students talk about their mental health disorders and kind of give their first-hand experience of what that’s like being on campus. That was very special and very rewarding. Then I moved on to being special projects editor and organizing themed editions of the paper and certain particular projects that we wanted to do, like the SAE anniversary edition and things like that. Then I moved on to being the engagement managing editor which was a big leap up, but I think it was really worth it because I got to see the importance of social media and engaging your audience.
What position do you hold with the Daily today?
Now, I’m the Arts and Entertainment editor and for me, knowing what is important to our audience has influenced my internships because I think, “What do people in this community want to read?”. It’s been a journey and I’m happy that I had it!
Seth Prince 