By: Andrew Glezen
Universities provide several opportunities for students to get involved and gain professional experience before graduation. College is a time where one can gain real world experience and develop their talents.
Student media is a popular example of this. Many universities have student newspapers, broadcasting opportunities and other media organizations.
There are endless advantages to student media, but three benefits stand out above the rest.
Published Work
Classroom work is nice, but many employers in today are looking for someone that has previous experience. Student media organizations give students the opportunity to publish their work whether it’s in a newspaper, on a television station or company or organization website. Having published work can enhance one’s portfolio by showing that a student can excel in a work environment and allows the portfolio to stand out above the rest.
Networking and Relationships
Student media organizations bring in alumni and guest speakers that current students can network with. This is a great opportunity to pick the brain of a professional and possibly gain a professional reference moving forward.
Students can also create relationships with peers in the organization. There is a good chance that one might end up working with other members of the organization and they might be able to help you professionally moving forward.
It’s not all about work. Students can also create relationships and friendships in their student media organization that will last a lifetime. You likely have a few things in common if you’re in the same organization as someone.
Experience and Growth
No one expects a person to be perfect the first time they do something. By joining a student organization, you are afforded the opportunity to make mistakes without hurting a company.
As long as a student learns from their mistakes, they will be more likely to succeed the next time rather than someone who hasn’t tried it at all. Students grow from experience and that is exactly the opportunity student media organizations provide.