Austin B. Bogues - Hampton Short Course 2006

My parents always made sure that I read every day before I watched TV in kindergarten. Batman would not come on the screen unless I had read the kid’s page of the local paper. After writing a half-page summary, I could view the Caped Crusader. Keeping up with current events was something my parents stressed as part of my education. It was important that I understood that the government being shut down in 1995, and resulting budget cuts, kept me from getting paper copies of tests, worksheets and other materials in fourth grade.

After a brief stint with microbiology in middle school and learning I had no affinity for math, I entered a high school program for journalism and communications. I wrote for the school newspaper and reported for the daily news show. I enjoyed the hubbub about stories that ran and the strong emotions they sometimes elicited.

Enrolling at the journalism school at Hampton University has been a life-changing event. Being taught by outstanding media professionals and scholars has sparked my curiosity and focused my drive to produce quality pieces. It has been an intensive learning experience that has allowed me to grow in ways I never thought possible. I have been a member of the Core Academy of Writing Excellence and Dean Tony Brown’s 6 O’Clock AM Club. I also have served as a contributing writer for The Hampton Script, the campus newspaper.

Understanding how decisions affect society is something that drives me to journalism. I am a strong believer that the media have to be the fourth estate, the people’s last line of defense to protect democracy and truth. It is our job to ask the questions that readers want to know and that they need to know. Telling people what is happening can help them make better-informed decisions and improve their quality of life. In short, good journalism is good for your health.

It’s a very strange occurrence to get your dream job as your first internship. When I arrived at Woodside High School in Newport News, Va., for freshman orientation, I said I wanted to be a reporter in Washington. Reporting for the Scripps Howard Foundation is an opportunity of a lifetime. I did not know I would get this opportunity ever, or even this soon. Witnessing events and communicating them to others is an honor because people invest their trust to me, and I do not take that for granted.

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