Hello fellow writers, journalists, bloggers, and lovers of the written word! My name is Hope Hoehler, better known as "Hopi" to my mother. I am currently a junior converged journalism major at Slippery Rock University. If you were to ask me why I'm writing this blog, the easy answer would be "it's for a grade", however the reason as to why I took the class that requires me to write this blog goes deeper than simply completing it to receive an "A".
Let's go back to why I started writing in the first place. Writing is a way for me to express how I feel and what I understand in a method that was much easier than talking. I was always a shy and introverted child and student, but always felt free and alive when I wrote. Whether I was writing creatively, academically, or in a journalistic manner I could write for hours. I only found it fit that I go to school for some aspect of writing. I attempted to make a Tumblr account with the understanding that I could write creatively and gain a following within a matter of months, boy was I wrong about that. I used the stand alone platform for about a month and then got tired of the way it was set up. I decided to move onto bigger ideas.
I fell in love with journalism when I took a journalism class during high school to fill a credit. Little did I know that it would have such a big impact on my life. I still carry a dream about becoming a writer for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette because it is the newspaper I grew up with and loved.
Fast forward through high school where I became the Editor-in-Chief of my high school newspaper and onto college where I contributed for the Campus Life section of The Rocket immediately. I'm not going to lie, college journalism was vastly different than high school journalism, but my editor made me feel confident. Onto sophomore year of college I became the Assistant Campus Life Editor of The Rocket and the entire staff became my second family. I now serve as the Campus Life Editor and I couldn't love anything more.
You may be thinking, how does this quick synopsis relate to writing a blog for new media journalism? Well, with the ever changing technology and the way audiences read newspapers, it is no surprise that print journalism is going downhill. I believe that learning various forms of journalism that involve the new media is extremely important for pursuing a successful career, that is one reason why I took this class. Another reason is that I am interested in the form of backpack journalism. There is something interesting and exciting about finding, reporting, and writing a story on the spot or with a quick turnout time.
Journalism means a lot to me, and the family that I made through it mean even more. I hope that you find some time look through my social media on Twitter, Facebook, and my portfolio for examples on some of the work I have done.
Thank you for connecting with me and stay tuned for more "Beyond the Lines" blog posts!