艾琳·劳勒为您现场报道

Erin Lawlor graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Digital Media in 2023.

新冠肺炎大流行让人们开始思考, 重新评估决策, and make changes that aligned with their passions; that is just what Erin Lawlor did.

“I came into school as a child advocacy and policy major with a double minor in social work and musical theater. 我以为我想成为一名律师，”劳勒说. 令人惊讶的是，我没有. During COVID, I was a second-semester freshman, and I had a lot of time to think. I started really getting into the news and realized misinformation was a huge problem.”

帮助别人有不同的形式, and Erin found a way to help others that did not require her to become a lawyer.

“I always knew I wanted to help people, I just didn’t know how,”律师说。. “I took writing for the media with Professor Tara George over the summer, 这激发了我全新的激情. So, I dropped child advocacy and policy and the social work minor and tried to take advantage of as much as possible in such little time. 我花了一段时间才看完, 所以我直到大三才正式换专业, 但我想按时毕业, 所以我努力工作来完成它!”

With hard work and determination, she secured three internships in three different industries.

“我的第一个写作实习是在RZR新闻, 这在当时是一个全新的政治写作平台. Although it was a great internship, I realized I did not want to do politics,”律师说。. “我喜欢写作。, 所以我得到了纳什新闻的实习机会, 它结合了我对音乐和写作的热爱.”

While interning at The Nash 新闻, she began another internship with a local media outlet.

“I got invited to be in the internship class at Montclair so then I was also writing for TapInto Westfield,”律师说。. “这些都很不同，但教会了我很多. It made me realize how much telling different stories each day really made a difference to the community.”

实习让艾琳发现了自己喜欢的东西, and her experiences gave her a foundation of skills for her current job.

“为印刷品写作和为电视写作是非常不同的, 但作为一名多媒体记者，它仍然对我有很大帮助,”律师说。. “At my current job, I have to write web articles, so it helps me there. But it also helped me gain more confidence doing interviews and setting up stories. I was so set on doing print journalism until I took 新闻 Lab and absolutely fell in love with TV.”

While studying at 十大博彩推荐排名州立大学, Erin was involved with The Montclarion.

“The Montclarion helped me in more ways than you could imagine,”律师说。. “It was the first real journalism experience I had and the first thing I did after switching my major. 我在那里有一个支持系统, and everyone had a common goal to succeed and deliver stories and news to our campus. 这让我更加爱上了这个领域. 再一次。, 这是另一个纸媒记者的角色, 但它给了我很大的帮助，让我走到今天. 这是我真正的激情和激情的开始.”

目前, Erin is a multimedia journalist with WBNG TV 12 and is making a name for herself in the industry.

“我是他们8年来的第一位早间记者, 这很令人兴奋, 但也有点挑战性,”律师说。. “In a way, I’m paving the road for the next person who becomes the morning reporter once I move on. 我早上3点开始工作.m. to 12:30, and I work with the best morning crew I could ask for. Everyone is so supportive and has helped me grow so much in these 4 months. I do a story each day and when there is breaking news in the mornings, 我会讲到的, 现场报道. I am so grateful to start here in the southern tier of New York State and cannot wait to grow even more as time goes on!”

Preparing for a job interview is vital because sometimes you may get a curveball like Erin did.

“For every interview I did, even WBNG, they gave me two writing tests,”律师说。. “我不知道会发生这种事. WBNG’s was timed so after my interview they gave me 30 minutes to write a script for a VO (video) based on a fake breaking news situation and a web article. 这让我很震惊. 我是说那很有趣, 我喜欢挑战, but it is definitely not something people talk about or prepare you for!”

Though it is difficult to narrow down just one thing she loves about her current role, 艾琳喜欢她的故事如何帮助别人.

“I love telling the good news stories in the community,”律师说。. “Being a morning reporter I kind of have the freedom to set up whatever stories I want for the week. I really love finding ones that will help the community or just a good news story to put a smile on people’s faces, 尤其是当新闻有时如此黑暗的时候.”

Erin credits the professors at 十大博彩推荐排名州立大学 for helping her become the journalist she is today.

我告诉每个人, 我怎么说都不为过, 十大博彩推荐排名为我的职业生涯做了很大的准备,”律师说。. 像西格林这样的教授, Effron, 甘特, 麦卡锡, 和乔治, 谁真正关心并希望看到他们的学生成功, 给了我很多帮助. 被逼得很紧, and receiving honest feedback and criticism pushed me as a student journalist to becoming a good professional journalist. I would not have had a lot of the opportunities I did at Montclair if it was not for my professors.”

Her advice to current students is to 网络, utilize LinkedIn, and ask people for help.

“我们经常听到教授们这么说, 但是他们说的网络是完全正确的, 网络, 网络,”律师说。. “我在大四的时候选修了职业管理课程，我很高兴我选修了. The two professors of that class were amazing and helped in so many ways. The biggest thing I took from that class was using the people you know. 如果他们想帮你，他们会的. 问一问总无伤大雅. 让自己走出去，为自己创造一个名字. It is hard at first, but once you gain confidence, it will push you so far! Networking got me a freelance associate producer job at 新闻12 NJ while I was still in school! 社交和LinkedIn. 它会是你最好的朋友.”

Erin is thriving in her current position but would love to report to those in her home state.

“我爱新泽西，”劳勒说. “Born and raised at the Jersey Shore, so I definitely want to make it back. I love telling news and good news, and I would absolutely love to do that in my home state. So, getting back to NJ to do what I love in the place I love is a huge goal of mine.”

作者:索菲亚·鲁杰罗