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Student Opportunities & Resources

IPFW Journalism Success Stories

Lisa Grote

Lisa graduated with highest distinction in 1995 (3.95 G.P.A) and was on the Chancellor's list every semester. She was also named to National Dean's List, Phi Beta Kappa (lifetime), and recognized in Who's Who on College Campuses twice.

Grote earned IPFW's Journalism Minor and has this to say to potential journalism students:

"For me, my academic degree provides a great deal of personal satisfaction; my journalism experience provides the professional. I encourage all students interested in pursuing writing as a career to minor in journalism. Whether you plan to write for a Fortune 500 company on the Internet, Time Magazine, the local newspaper, poetry journals or academic America, the skills you gain in networking with other journalists and learning the ins-and-outs of becoming a published writer is invaluable.

"While attending IPFW, I worked as a freelance writer and editor. After I graduated, I continued to do freelance work, but late in 1996 I decided to change my focus a bit and concentrate my talents and efforts on a single entity. After talking with several companies, both in and out of the Fort Wayne area, I took a position with Our Sunday Visitor Publishing in Huntington, Indiana, as a project editor in the book division. Our Sunday Visitor is the largest Catholic publishing house in the United States, and I edit about ten books a year. Not only do I do the line-by-line copy editing of the book, I also format the actual book pages, do fact checking, and work with the authors.

"How much of my success is directly related to the Journalism Minor from IPFW is hard to pinpoint exactly. So much of the experiential aspect of the minor--working with the journalism instructors, picking their brains and putting their knowledge and experience to work in my work, actually working in the field before I graduated--has been crucial. The opportunity to gain real-world experience is a necessity in this profession, a writer/editor/journalist is only as good as their portfolio. IPFW's Journalism program provides realistic access to experience.

"Honestly, I've yet to have anyone ask me to show them my degree, but I've had multitudes of editors and clients ask to see my published 'clips.' If not for the encouragement, support, direction, and instruction I received through IPFW's journalism department, my portfolio would be considerably less impressive.

"And start writing for publication now--don't wait to gain the experience the world looks for when you can get that experience while you're still in school. Look into taking an internship. See what the Co-op Education department has to offer. Be sure to take "Writing for Publication" and "Editorial Practices." Learn desktop publishing (Quark Express and Page Maker are the two most common). Write, write, write, submit. Submit often. Submit repeatedly. Don't give up."

IPFW is an Equal Opportunity/Equal Access University.