Chris Wiest, Journalism student

With the shifting landscape of the journalism field, collegiate journalists who spend long hours dwelling away in converted 'newsrooms' (that is, once-upon-a-time classrooms that now serve as student newspaper offices) are well aware that they're diving headfirst into an ever-changing business. Journalism students are just that - full-time students who devote time to chasing news stories in between classes. They're not immune to typos, the occasional misstep in a rushed story, or a misspelled name. What they're creating, however, is an environment that allows them to go beyond a sound bite, text message or tweet.

Chris Wiest is one such student. The journalism major and associate editor of NCC's student newspaper, The Commuter, recognizes that while journalism has extended its reach to all forms of social media and interactive online features, there's still value in the actual process of researching and writing a story.

"There's a freedom with journalism that you don't really have with [other fields]," says Wiest. "The writing comes after you have a good interview or good research. You have to be ready to get out there, do interviews, and find the stories."

That's not to say that Wiest and his fellow classmates don't recognize and appreciate the way that journalism is trending toward the 'convenience' of up-to-the-minute stories that break on social media and are accessible on a mobile device anytime, anywhere. For Weist, however, journalism is also about knowing the rules and when to break them, keeping up on the news and knowing the difference between a real piece of reporting and online opinion.

"After just one semester in copyediting, I really notice that everything else I see [in print], I pick up on the mistakes," says Wiest, who declared his major after taking several semesters of elective classes. "We've done some news writing and publishing classes, and the second that I started in my first [journalism] class, I knew that this was going to stick. But, I can definitely see the trend to where people aren't careful [about how they write]. We work from the AP Style editing book, and I stick to that."

Wiest's conscientious awareness of writing styles has led him to believe that he may one day pursue a career as an editor. He would also enjoy magazine or features writing, particularly in the area of science.

"If you work hard enough, and you're good at what you do, you'll be able to find the job that you want," says Wiest, who plans to transfer and pursue his bachelor's degree after NCC. "The best thing about the program so far is that being an associate editor for The Commuter really puts me into what I want to be doing in a few years. Learning how to do an interview has been the most difficult part, but I knew I would have to do it. The overall experience has been great."