I had so much fun going back to Manhattan, Kansas for the School of Journalism’s 100th anniversary event at Kansas State University this month (September of 2010). I rubbed elbows with my professors from 16 years ago. Talked to current students. Visited the Collegian Newspaper’s newsroom in Kedzie Hall (oh, the memories as Campus Editor and staff writer!). And, chatted with former classmates.

It was fantastic to be on campus during a school day to watch as the students walked to class – all with cell phones glued to their ears while sipping espressos. Otherwise, so much of the campus is the exact same – especially the old newsroom at Kedzie where time has stood still. I felt as if I had been a ghost from another era who worked at the paper. I talked to the current staffers about how things were done in “my day.” I found my name – handwritten on the ceiling from nearly two decades before and couldn’t help but notice that the desks are the same ones we sat behind… and on!

There were a few things that were disappointing. I wish there would have been more students who returned for the celebration. The college and the program’s leaders did a tremendous job of planning informational and exciting events, but I would have loved to catch up with more of my old classmates.

I also spent a good deal of time chatting with a PR professor – who wasn’t at K-State when I was a student. We compared how the program had changed throughout the years. One of the things I was most proud of when I mentored college journalism students is that AT K-State, all students are required to write for the college newspaper for at least one semester. I gloated that even at the highly acclaimed Kansas University, you could graduate with a degree in print journalism and never had the experience of working at the paper.

Well, that has changed and I think it is a mistake.

All journalism students – whether their emphasis is PR, print or broadcast, should learn what makes a news story and how to articulate the news into the traditional inverted pyramid format. These students should learn what it is like to be “edited” especially by their editor-level peers. And, I’d argue, this experience is especially useful for PR majors. When you’re a newbie in PR and it’s your job to call the local TV station or newspaper to propose a story, you’d better know what makes a good story angle or it will be a short career.

Now, I’m sure the students love this change. Reporting was a very challenging class. Students were required to write 25 stories for the Collegian. Only the strong writers’ articles appeared in the paper regularly, while the other students struggled to get one or two published. (and I’m sure they used those few pieces for their portfolio!)

Many students I speak with today – especially those excited about a career in PR – tell me they aren’t good writers and don’t particularly care for writing. I wonder if they think they can be successful in PR without focusing on improving their writing. I always tell them a few things that I believe will help them become a better professional someday:

• Read and watch the news. I’m blown away by how many students – even journalism students – as well as young PR professionals can’t be bothered to read the paper. Come on! You’ll never be any good unless you make this a habit.
• Write for a publication – sometime. Either get an internship with a magazine or newspaper, offer submissions or letters to the editor, get a job at the campus paper or yearbook or keep a focused blog you can be proud of.
• Study your critiques. Once I started as a reporter for a daily newspaper as new graduate, I would compare the article that ran in the paper with the one that I had submitted and soon I made fewer and fewer mistakes.

I miss my days in college and I hope to be able to work with college students some day. Maybe I’ll bring back the requirement of writing for the paper!