Why SPJ is a key to my future
Online degrees have been looked down upon since their inception. Just look at the barbs Jon Stewart throws about the University of Phoenix, or listen to the tone of your aunt’s voice when she asks how you’re managing to attend classes while working 40 hours a week. The public opinion of online degree programs suggests that these programs are only for the lazy, the underachieving and those who couldn’t get into a “real” school. Ashford University and the Society of Professional Journalists are on a mission to change that misguided way of thinking, and I am with them.
I am not your stereotypical online student. I attended Ohio University for three years, struggling to find my place at the prestigious Scripps School of Journalism. Each year, I felt more and more displaced: I didn’t fit into one of the prepackaged journalism sequences and found no help from my advisors, professors or peers. When I tried writing for the quarterly campus magazine, I only felt more displaced. I wanted to investigate the rising tuition, while my editor made it clear that the magazine had to play nice with the administration. I felt unwelcome at the newspaper, and I was intimidated by the overt competitiveness between staff writers. Feeling lost and that I made a mistake by making journalism my nature, I left Athens and Scripps, convinced that my dream of a journalism degree was dead.
After almost two years of working in the medical field, I decided to return to school. Going back to OU was out of the question: I couldn’t afford it. Then, I discovered Ashford University offered an online bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communication. I applied immediately and started my first online class two weeks later. For almost a year, I wasn’t convinced I was spending my time and money on the best degree I had the means to obtain. Many of my classes had several students who couldn’t recognize the difference between there, their and they’re. I knew I was doing well in the classes, but were my grades better than those of the students who couldn’t be bothered to use spell check before submitting a discussion post?
The doubt did not end there. I read horror stories online of alumni who were, in effect, laughed out of interviews because they had an online degree. The hiring statistics back these horror stories up. . According to a 2012 article by Time writer Kayla Webley, the Society for Human Resource Management reported that 66 percent of human resource managers said that online graduates would not be considered as favorable job candidates if they were up against graduates who have degrees from traditional brick-and-mortar universities.
Despite my doubts, I was working harder than I did at OU. Because online classes allow students to log in and complete coursework according to their schedules, there are no lectures and it is hard to get a coherent group discussion about the week's topics. This forces the students to actually complete the readings, which was something I hardly needed to do at OU.
However, despite how hard I worked, I was frustrated by the lack of respect online students received from prospective employers and the general public. Applying for internships only compounded my frustration: most internships in my area required that the school offers an internship credit, and I experienced the discrimination against online students firsthand. Even though I have two years of professional work experience, all the interviewers were more interested in what school I would be graduating from, and none were familiar with Ashford. I was tired of others not valuing my coursework as much as I did.
When the Ashford University journalism department announced they were seeking a charter from Society of Professional Journalists, I was ecstatic. This was an opportunity to gain experience that I could not get in the classroom, and the organization lends legitimacy to Ashford itself. I am now a part of an expansive network of journalists. Some have worked for major news outlets, while others are students like me, trying to make it in the world. While there is no substitute for hands on experience, the educational opportunities offered by SPJ can help me hone my skills as a journalist, making me a more qualified job candidate. By attending various seminars and conferences and attending my chapter’s meetings, I will be able to network with journalists from all career levels and walks of life. This organization gives me the hope and encouragement I need to become a journalist. SPJ at Ashford has already made history simply for being the first online chapter, and we will continue to do so while proving all the naysayers wrong.
