As we continue to unfurl the remainder of work produced by my students during Fall 2017, let’s take a glimpse at where they went after the course ended. Fun fact: More than 10 percent of my students landed jobs in the news industry upon graduation. Who says college graduates cannot find journalism jobs? For instance:
This author began her TV news career at CBS affiliate KEPR in Pasco, Washington, south of Spokane and north of Portland. In summer 2019, she was a KEPR reporter & weekend weather anchor. During summer 2018, she was a KRON4 news desk intern. Her sanctuary city story has received the most hits thus far in 2019. It’s in this 2017 cluster:
https://www.ReportingWithLydiaLum.com/category/Concord
Speaking of KRON4, this author was sports desk intern there while taking my beat reporting course. After 2 semesters at KRON4, he finished college while writing sports and other features for SF State’s student-produced newspaper, Golden Gate Xpress. Here’s his capstone from 2017:
https://www.ReportingWithLydiaLum.com/2018/05/14/Shout-Out
Next, this author has continued her journalism studies while maintaining her role as one of SF State’s Student Ambassadors who lead group and individual tours of the campus. In Fall 2018, she wrote for the Golden Gate Xpress newspaper. Here was one of her many subject interests the previous school year:
https://www.ReportingWithLydiaLum.com/2018/05/13/daca
This author wrote for GGXpress and for El Tecolote, a bilingual newspaper in San Francisco’s Mission district, before graduating in December 2018. During the time I have known her, she lived in east Contra Costa County and juggled a part-time job as a nanny before moving westward. Since then, she has held two jobs for a medical facility affiliated with higher education. In my class, she leveraged her East County relationships to land great interviews with first responders:
https://www.ReportingWithLydiaLum.com/2018/09/14/firefighting
Speaking of December 2018 graduates, this author was the sole photojournalism major in the class. Her work is proof that you don’t have to be primarily a writer in order to be a very good writer. Her beat coverage of the world-famous Haight-Ashbury neighborhood was refreshing for its lack of tourist spots. Fun fact: Her 2017 capstone drew the most hits in 2018 from visitors who found it through search engines:
https://www.ReportingWithLydiaLum.com/2018/03/26/helping
Photojournalism classes at SF State attracted many of my then-students, including this author, who, along with his homies — as he enthusiastically described them — had a freelance photography and video production business. Even before fall 2018, he kept busy with growing that business. His capstone project from the previous year was, like that of his aforementioned classmate and friend, based in Haight-Ashbury:
https://www.ReportingWithLydiaLum.com/2018/03/26/homeless
Next, this author has continued exploring a wide array of college courses and off-campus jobs. In 2018, one of those jobs was at a newsstand. He understands how important it is to access opportunities — lest they unexpectedly disappear. During my course, he landed an interview with this longtime San Francisco businessman — just months before the latter decided to shutter the doors:
https://www.ReportingWithLydiaLum.com/2018/09/30/an-unofficial
The bilingual El Tecolote newspaper based in San Francisco’s Mission district has benefitted from so much talent among my former students, including this author. By summer 2019, she was pursuing stories in Valencia, Spain in a Study Abroad program. It’s no surprise that her 2017 profile about a drag queen was a sign of her ambitious storytelling:
https://www.ReportingWithLydiaLum.com/2018/04/03/more-than
Next, this author landed a new retail job in her Union Square beat neighborhood that she juggled alongside classes SF State’s magazine sequence. Her work now appears in the campus magazine, and I’m so pleased she sharpened many of her storytelling skills with us in Fall 2017, such as this piece that brims with confidence:
https://www.ReportingWithLydiaLum.com/2018/08/03/Exploring
Speaking of confidence, this author has had internships at Tecolote newspaper and at KGO radio as examples of his receptiveness to new experiences. Like many of his peers, he has written for student-run Xpress newspaper too, where part of his coverage included the Castro district, an assignment he began in our class:
https://www.ReportingWithLydiaLum.com/2018/02/15/homelessness
Currently a graphic designer, this author has the primary design and layout responsibilities for Sonoma West Publishers, which operates a stable of community newspapers: the Healdsburg Tribune, the Windsor Times, the Sonoma West Times & News and the Cloverdale Reveille. After the North Bay fires erupted in October 2017, I urged this author to add Sonoma County onto her beat for the rest of the semester. Her Sonoma County stories — along with the rest of her portfolio — helped her land a Spring 2019 reporting internship at the Santa Rosa Press Democrat newspaper and Sonoma magazine. Her 2017 wildfire stories were part of this coursework cluster:
https://www.ReportingWithLydiaLum.com/category/Petaluma
In early 2018, this author…
Reporting with Lydia Lum 