College Counseling at St. Margaret's

Andy Ellison is a 2008 SMES alumnus.

Hi, my name is Andy Ellison and I graduated from SMES in 2008. Currently, I attend Arizona State University where I am studying Journalism. Arizona State is obviously not very high on the list of universities that an SMES alum would attend, believe me I know. But there are two specific fields that the university excels in: Business and Journalism. In this blog, I am pleased to share my experiences at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and my thoughts on becoming a journalism major.

The Cronkite School is separate from the main ASU campus. Upon being accepted into ASU, one must go through an additional application process to be accepted into the Cronkite School. The admission standards are not very high, but they are similar to those of the Business School, which demands slighter better grades and scores than the general application to ASU. There are three main campuses at ASU: Tempe, Polytechnic, and downtown Phoenix. While the Tempe campus is where most students will attend their classes, the Cronkite School is located in the downtown Phoenix campus.

There are dorms located in downtown Phoenix for students pursuing a Journalism degree, but it is not necessary to stay in those particular dorms. Phoenix is only ten minutes away from Tempe and I myself did not stay in those dorms. This is due partly to the fact that I changed majors to Journalism second semester, but also because I did not want to live on that campus. Students will find that many of there General Education courses are given on the Tempe campus anyway, and so they may find it easier to live on or near that campus rather than in downtown Phoenix.

Now I have only completed one semester in the Cronkite School thus far, but I can give you a pretty good idea of what it’s like. I lived in the dorms on the Tempe campus and attended many general education classes on that campus, but I traveled to Phoenix once a week for my Journalism courses. Commuting is not difficult at all. If you don’t have a car, which I did not, you can use a Light Rail system that ASU students can ride for free. It departs right from the Tempe Campus and drops you right on the Phoenix campus. It is seriously as easy as that. The trip on the rail system takes about twenty minutes.

The Cronkite School offers three main areas of study for Journalism. Print Journalism is a major in which the student takes the general Journalism courses and focuses primarily on the written side of Journalism. Think newspapers, magazines, etc… Another area is Broadcast Journalism, where the student takes the general Journalism courses and focuses on broadcasting. Think baseball announcers, Anderson Cooper on CNN, etc… This is the particular degree I am pursuing. The third area is Public Relations or “PR”. I don’t really have any examples for this one, haha, sorry.

My first semester in the Cronkite School consisted of general Journalism courses. I had to take to specific courses. One was a grammar course that is mandatory of all Cronkite students unless you test out of it (most don’t). It is a pass/fail class meaning it does not affect your GPA but it is essential that you get at least an 80% in the course or you fail and have to take it again. Most importantly, you cannot go on in the Cronkite School until you pass this course. There is only one course you can take at the same time as the grammar course. This is a History of Journalism Class. It teaches you about all aspects of journalism, from print to broadcast and it explores the role that the media plays in our lives today. These are the two courses I took. I am currently continuing on with Journalism Ethics and Writing for Journalists.

The Cronkite School is rather challenging considering that it is unlike other majors and requires a great deal of dedication. The subject matter can be very foreign at times, but in my experience, the professors are very eager to help should you have any questions or concerns. Keep in mind that ASU is a very big school and it is virtually impossible to get the kind of intimate attention that other private universities provide. I believe that the Cronkite School is a very unique institution and that it is one of the best in its field. But remember that attending ASU is attending ASU and that it is quite a unique experience… that’s putting it lightly. But should you decide to pursue this major and attend this university, I am sure that you will find it to your liking. Thanks and I hope this helped.