College of Liberal Arts
University of Minnesota
Twin Cities Campus
101 Pleasant St SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455

Maddy's Blog

There's a first time for... lots of things...

It seems I'm always writing about how quickly the time is passing or something of that nature. This time, I'm taking some time to reflect on these first few weeks of Spring Semester 2009.

This semester is filled with first-times for me...

This is my first semester of solely journalism courses - four of them to be exact. Though my time on campus is spent entirely in the J-school (Murphy Hall), my classes have enough of variety to keep me as excited as I always have been to be studying journalism. I'm taking a Visual Journalism course, Mass Media and People of Color, History of Media Communication and Magazine Writing. The four courses have complementary aspects but also very different content.

My magazine writing course is taught by an adjunct faculty member which means she has a job in the "real world" (which is anywhere off of the U of M campus, according to most students). She has worked for the Associated Press and various magazines as writers and editors. The J-school often brings in adjunct faculty to bring the "real world" experience to the students.

February 18th, 2009
Picture of Maddy
  • Class & major: senior; broadcast journalism and magazine writing
  • Hometown: Buffalo, MN
  • Favorite Book: The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstien
  • When I have free time, I: workout, hang with friends, jam to my iPod, take pictures and explore the city
  • My favorite CLA class so far: CSCL 1501W: Reading History. It was challenging but wasn't the date/event memorization look at history.
  • When you come to Minnesota you've gotta try: the State Fair (cheese curds!), walk the Stone Arch Bridge, the Minneapolis music/art scene, and snowboarding.
  • If I hadn't come to the U of M, I never would have: fallen in love with the atmosphere here: the people, the nearby city, the athletics, the facilities, and the entertainment--all of which are one of a kind.