THE LUCKY SEVEN

PROGRAM

HighLights Seven The Lucky

By Meredith Parker

After 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.

“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.

“After exchanging emails and speaking to my adviser, Joseph Atkins, I knew I wanted to attend Ole Miss for graduate school.”

The Meek School of Journalism formerly offered two graduate programs, the academic track and the integrated marketing communications track. The professional track graduate program made its debut last year. The chair of the graduate program is Professor Joe Atkins.

He is a veteran journalist who graduated from American University’s professional track graduate program.

“I think the professional track gives you a little extra and, if maybe later on you want to teach, you can,” Atkins said.

This program did not happen overnight. Atkins and others worked hard and long to create the program.

“We aren’t the first to do this, so we looked at other universities to learn as we put this program together,” Atkins said.

The seven students this semester are taking Narrative Journalism taught by Atkins. It is one of the four required core classes in the professional graduate program.

“I took a look around the room one day and realized we had a really diverse group of students in this program, which I think is so great for everyone to experience,” Atkins said.

Along with a required thesis project, “There also are 12 hours of electives, which help students augment other specialties,” Atkins said. These electives range from Magazine Service Journalism Publishing to Depth Reporting.

Some people raise the question why come to a small town like Oxford to study journalism when opportunities with internships and experience may be greater in larger cities.

Atkins answers, “I think Oxford offers a rich legacy and history with writers like Faulkner, Willie Morris, and our own Curtis Wilkie. The students can have a significant part in that tradition.”

The program continues to build.

“We are in the discussion of offering some online courses for working journalists,” Atkins said.

Workshops, outstanding visiting journalists, and coalitions with book and writing conferences also are on the horizon.

The author is a junior, broadcast journalism major from Brandon, Mississippi. From left to right: LaReeca Rucker, Ashley Norwood, Jessica Hotakainen, Ji Hoon Heo, Li Guojuan, Marlen Polito, and Chinonyeranyi Kalu.