SUNY Geneseo to Mizzou J-school: Sizing them up

By Rebecca Fitzgerald

I’m always up for a new journalistic challenge.

While touring the Mizzou campus with Columbia Missourian sports editor Greg Bowers on Monday, I was reminded of one.

The facilities, renowned professors and state-of-the-art technology (seriously, how can Mizzou have so many iMacs?) significantly differed from where I’m coming from at SUNY Geneseo.

Unlike most of my Sports Journalism Institute classmates, I’m not enrolled in a J-school. At SUNY Geneseo, a public liberal arts college in Western New York, I am a communication major. We have three tracks, similar to Mizzou’s five sequences, in journalism/media, personal and professional and intercultural communication.

I’ve taken a variety of courses that focused on sports broadcasting, management, issues surrounding journalism and public relations. Hands-on experience isn’t at a faculty-led and student-produced newspaper, like the Columbia Missourian. Rather, I participate in SUNY Geneseo’s independent student newspaper, The Lamron. Student editors assign, report, write, edit, design and produce the weekly publication. 

Some may not take my experiences too seriously, but I wouldn’t trade them for any J-school.

Mizzou’s resources are impressive, but I’d rather attend SUNY Geneseo where I can dive right into print journalism and broadcasting. I’d rather make tough decisions about media and management alongside my peers. I’d rather be an editor and learn invaluable lessons on leadership.

Going into SJI, I was aware that my journalism experiences are far different than those of J-school students. One isn’t necessarily better or worse. They’re just different.