Post 081.

FUTURE

ever since my sophomore year of high school, i've dreamed of attending UC Berkeley. i've visited the campus twice and each has given me more motivation. i am on the cusp of finishing my first class at smc and becoming a full time student this fall. i have to pay for my classes by august 3, so today i double-checked to make sure i was pleased with what i will be taking (English 1, Cultural Anthropology, Women's Studies 20, and Communictions 10) i went to assist.org, which help me pick these classes by showing what i need to be a media studies transfer student, (i was also keeping my option as a communications major at ucla open) and i found what might be the perfect major for me at a school i thought was only for math and science nerds. the major is Literary Journalism and the only school that offers it is University of California, Irvine.

i went to uci's website and this is their description of literary journalism:

The Literary Journalism Major
The newest major offered by the Department of English, Literary Journalism, was created to meet the needs of a growing number of students who wish to read, study and write nonfiction prose that has transcended the limits of daily journalism. This is prose that has evolved into a distinct branch of literature, prose that adopts the aims and techniques of the finest fiction. The program provides majors with a solid foundation in nonfiction writing and an equally solid background in areas such as literary history, which together will help make them more informed writers.

Literary journalism is an emerging field of study that is known by varying names, including creative nonfiction, the literature of fact and literary nonfiction. The Nieman Foundation at Harvard University holds an annual national conference on narrative journalism; there are anthologies devoted to it; many colleges offer courses in it, or feature it as an option within their majors. UCI's program builds on existing departmental strengths: its nationally ranked programs in creative writing, literature and literary theory. Literary Journalism majors take three intensive writing seminars, and are expected to develop a portfolio of work by graduation which they can present as evidence of their skill for purposes of employment or future education. At the same time, majors are asked to take a comprehensive look at the theory, history and context of literary journalism. Among other forms, they study and write narratives, memoirs, profiles, histories and personal essays, in subject areas as varied as science, politics, justice, travel, sports, food and popular culture. They use as models a multitude of writers, ranging from Daniel Defoe, James Boswell and Stephen Crane to George Orwell, John Hersey, Lillian Ross, Joseph Mitchell, Gay Talese, John McPhee, Joan Didion, Tom Wolfe, Tracy Kidder, Calvin Trillin, Hunter Thompson, Truman Capote and Norman Mailer.

While it differs from an applied journalism major that focuses primarily on newspaper writing, the major in Literary Journalism is excellent preparation for students planning to enter graduate programs in journalism, as well as for those interested in the many careers requiring sophisticated writing skills.

if you know me, this is everything i'm interested in. for the past 4 years i've known that journalism is for me, and writing has become part of who i am, but when i thought about majoring in journalism i always feared that i would just be writing strictly news. straigt-forward, lacking creativity, NEWS! then i stumbled upon this and may i say, this is the best of both worlds.

Cal is my dream, and i have no doubt that i will one day end up there, but now i realize that i can be flexible, and when i am i find things like this.