A Deeper Look Inside of One of UNE’s Most Important Classes
2/6/2024
Biddeford, ME – Inside a small, unassuming classroom inside on the University of New England’s Biddeford campus, there are groundbreaking discoveries taking place. Introduction to Journalism students are not only gaining the opportunity to write a feature article but are also experiencing a “real-life newsroom” scenario, laid out by Professor Jesse Miller.
At 2 PM this past Friday, February 2nd, the students in the course gathered as they normally do in Marcil Hall, setting up the tables in their token round layout which Professor Miller prefers. Professor Miller started the class period off by explaining that there would be a teaching demonstration on February 9th for a new faculty member in the communications department, and that students would have the opportunity to attend and give their input. The communications department at the University of New England has recently undergone a large amount of change, including a program-wide name change, so this news was quite positive for all present communications majors.
After the usual run down, Miller gave students the opportunity to pitch their stories to the room, as if they were in a newsroom. Students not only had the opportunity to hear the pitches of their colleagues, but also had their own pitches critiqued.
Every kind of pitch was present, some were emotionally charged, and some were more disconnected.
“The mail room pisses me off!” Sarah Bordeau, a student in the class, exclaimed while she went into detail about the issues with the campus mail room, including hours and staffing.
Another story that was discussed in detail was about the football team. Zach, a student in Miller’s class, plans to write his feature piece about the team, which he is a part of.
“Football brings in money for the school through its’ roster of 120 people.” Zach explained, giving this as just one of the examples of how the football team supports the school.
As the conversation wrapped up, Miller moved into an activity. At the end of class, each student left feeling confident and satisfied with their story, ready to move into the drafting phase.
