PROGRAM HighLights
The
Lucky
Seven A By Meredith Parker
fter the introduction of the professional graduate track in journalism last fall, seven students from around the world enrolled in the program. A college tennis player, an Air Force veteran, an aspiring teacher, a native Nigerian, and an ambitious and seasoned journalist with nearly 10 years of experience formed a group of seven — the lucky seven. One of those lucky seven is Guojuan Li who received her degree in international journalism from United International College in southern China. “When I was in undergraduate school, I worked for our campus newspaper, and had an internship at a TV station, mainly dealing with copy editing and interviews,” Li said. She found the new program online. “I didn’t want to stay at home, so I chose to study and experience something new,” said Li. She said the program gave her some new experiences, such as taking a documentary course last semester with the other six. “We worked together and contacted and interviewed people; it was interesting,” Li said. Li’s plans after graduation are a little different from her media-focused classmates. “My dream job is to be a teacher,” Li said. “I want to volunteer to teach children.” Li is a graduate assistant for Professor Mikki Harris and enjoys photojournalism, which is one of the classes Harris teaches. She also is taking a multimedia storytelling class this semester. The group of seven offers Li new and different ideas.
52 MEEK SCHOOL
“I am a little quiet during class,” Li said with a laugh. “But when I do talk, I feel that everyone listens and respects what I say.” “I like to think of us as the dream team,” said Ji Hoon Heo, another student in the professional track. Heo was born in South Korea, and moved to the island of Saipan when he was four. He graduated from Morehead State University with a degree in convergent media after playing four years of NCAA Men’s Tennis. While in college, Heo worked as an assistant producer on a network that streamed all athletic events. “I have a heavy multimedia background, and I was in charge of all multimedia content while at MSU,” Heo said. Heo is an intern for Ole Miss Sports Production while serving as a graduate assistant for the journalism school. “We have big talents in such a small group,” Heo said. He considers their small diverse group an advantage because they all learn from one another. Their diversity makes the classroom experience that much richer. “We have people who are unreal at writing and those who are just so meticulous in what they do and also creative,” Heo said. “We have people who are great at talking and people good in post-production.” Heo said that the professional track program at Ole Miss recognizes the shift in journalism and values innovation with technology. “I’d like to be able to come out of the program and be able to take on the real world right away,” Heo said, “My goal would be to become a multimedia editor and really help shape the way a story is told in terms of multimedia content.” Coming to the University of Mississippi was not his original plan, but the faculty is ultimately what made his decision.
