McKenzie speaks to students during Tutorial

McKenzie appeared on the Randolph campus on Thursday during tutorial, to give a presentation in the lecture room directed towards students about her work in journalism. When asked how SPA had helped her get where she is today, McKenzie mentioned how her SPA helped her build her study skills which is a very important part in journalism. She elaborated on how her teachers were very supportive and always encouraging her to do her best.

McKenzie favors the truth over sensationalism.

“You are ethically bound to present the story fairly and truthfully…Our goal is always to present the truth, and sometimes, the truth is not pretty, sometimes, not everybody likes it,” McKenzie said.

Even though the story may not be what everybody wants to hear, it is the job of a journalist to do so. Journalism to McKenzie, is about providing people with valid information on what is going on in the world around them.

Her favorite part of her job is changing people with her stories.

“I always love when I can tell a story, and both the person I’m telling the story about and the person watching are changed.”

Panel of Alumni/ae talk at Speaker Series event

Though scheduled moderator Rebecca Jarvis was unable to attend, the Speaker Series alumni/ae event took place as scheduled on Thursday night. The evening began with networking and reconnecting with old classmates and peers years after graduating from SPA.

The newly appointed moderator, Sasha Aslanian (‘86), kicked off the event with a few questions about the panelist’s careers and even a few pertaining to their experiences at SPA.

McKenzie credited her US English teacher Lucy Polk, for teaching the 5 sentence thesis method that McKenzie claims is still helpful for her today. McKenzie also shared about her dream being musician she had in high school before she found her interest in journalism.  “When I got to college, I realized there weren’t that many clarinet spots,” she said.

Kansas stated that, “SPA teaches how to continually be learning.”  

He feels that SPA prepared him for his life now by encouraging an interest in many subjects. “[SPA] instilled in me this passion for being engaged in subjects.”

His interest in sports was one of the things that introduced him to journalism. He says he used to discuss school sports with local reporters when he was in eighth or ninth grade.

The event continued on with more discussion on topics including how technology is affecting the world of news today and how it will change the system of how people get their news in the future.

“Journalism isn’t going anywhere,” McKenzie said, “but how we practice it may change.”

Kansas stays optimistic for the survival of the printed newspaper, though he does expect there to be adjustments to costs and other factors of it because of the enormous amount of people getting information from the Internet nowadays.

Because of the rapidly increasing number of news outlets, Kansas claims that there are “More opportunities than ever to be a journalist.”

When asked for any advice for an aspiring or potential journalist, Andrea Scott replied with the best advice she could give: “If you’re passionate, and I know this sounds cliché, and love what you do, then stick with it.”