During the first Journalism 175 lecture I attended, Professor Oates described herself as a “chipmunk on crack.” In the next lecture, she sarcastically discussed journalism, making several jabs towards the industry despite being a former journalist. During the first half of the semester, Professor Oates continuously proved herself to be my most honest and interesting professor. I wanted to know more about why she seemed to despise journalism, even though she teaches journalism classes and once worked in the industry, so I decided to interview her for this assignment.
Professor Oates received her bachelor’s degree from Yale University. She studied political science. However, because she was so involved with the school newspaper in Yale, she received several internships that helped her get a job at a small newspaper office in Florida. She explained that even though she loved telling stories and learning more about people, she decided she was not tough enough to endure the darker side of journalism involving interviewing families of murder victims and families of those who had committed suicide. After taking a long through the highway, she decided to go back to school. Professor Oates received her master’s and doctorate degree from Emory …show more content…
In addition to being able to ask Professor Oates for professional recommendations, I am also able to have personal conversations with her. For example, while interviewing Professor Oates, we talked about our experiences as journalists. Although she has had much more experience with journalism than I do, people we met impacted us both, and we enjoyed telling the stories we told. Because she is a professor, she has much more wisdom about situations I may come across during my four years in college, and due to this interview, I can ask her for