After a bit of research, I learned that the event was organized by the Journalism Education Association and would take place at the convention center located in the Gaylord Opryland Resort, which just so happened to be the same hotel we would be staying at.

As a student who wants to major in journalism, this felt like an unbelievable opportunity that was provided to my peers and me. Even though I’m majoring in journalism, I still wasn’t very knowledgeable about it. All I knew was that I liked to write, and a big part of journalism involved writing.

Attending this conference would also give me ideas for how to improve as an editor-in-chief, as this is my first year in that role. Technically, I was also an editor the year before, but I didn’t really gain a lot of experience of being a leader because of how uncommon it was for staff writers to come to me if they needed assistance.

Other editors shared a similar feeling to how I did about wanting to improve in their position.

“As the newest and, in my opinion, least experienced editor, I [wanted] to improve on my leadership skills,” said sophomore yearbook editor John Paul Mayoralgo.

Before the conference, the advisor gave us a list of 45-minute sessions that would be held. Of the dozens that were available, there was one about an intro to sports journalism and broadcasting that really caught my eye. I had thought about sports journalism as an option before, but never seriously considered it. After listening to the breakout speaker talk about their experiences with sports journalism, I was inspired to learn more about it as a serious career path.

Aside from the sports journalism session, I got to listen to other professionals talk about their experiences in their respective fields. For instance, another session I attended went over camera settings and how to properly use them. Although I already had prior experience using cameras, I thought it was a nice refresher. Before, it was common for me to fiddle with the settings until my photos started to turn out right.

While at the event, I also visited the conference’s trade show. There were so many booths featuring the media programs of various universities that were represented. I remember visiting Penn State, Lee University, and Ball State University. It was really interesting to talk to the representatives there about their programs and hear what made them so unique compared to others. Before the convention began, I also got to visit Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU).
During my visit there, MTSU journalism majors spoke to my group as well as other schools about their school and media program. Although it feels a little too far from home for me, it was a very nice college, and I’m grateful to have visited it.

Overall, the JEA conference was a fantastic experience, and I highly recommend that any student journalist attend if they can. It was an amazing opportunity to learn about the media programs at other universities and listen to experts in the field share their advice.