College Reminiscing

This past week has continually reminded me of why I first decided to become a music writer. While preparing for an edit test, I began paging through various notes from journalism classes I had taken at Rutgers (still in disbelief that it’s been over a year since I graduated). I came across one of the first music-related assignments I wrote in my junior year. I still remember the class, it was Professor Fitzpatrick’s News Reporting and Writing and while my news writing wasn’t the strongest, I took full advantage of writing feature and entertainment-related articles in his class, this specific assignment being no different. We were assigned to write a profile on whomever we wished — politician, entertainer, etc. — and I decided on my favorite artist at the time, Kanye West. When reading through my profile assignment I was thoroughly impressed by my research and could clearly see that even back then, well over two years ago, it was evident that becoming a music journalist was in my future.

Even before interning at MTV News or Rolling Stone, you can see in my earlier articles that this is what I excelled at and had passion for, despite not realizing it for myself at the time. I had always wanted to write thought-provoking, moving pieces as well and partly, I think this is why I love discovering and featuring new bands on my blog. In a way, by me writing about lesser known bands and getting readers interested in listening to a song or checking out their MySpace, I’m making a difference, even if it is in a very small way.

This week I’ve decided to roll back the clock and post some of my very first music-related articles. Whether it be my first artist profile on Kanye, first concert review or in-depth magazine writing assignment, I hope it gives you a little taste of how it all began and motivates me to keep pursing music writing when the career path isn’t always clearly laid out for me.