Jasmine Roufchaie

Transfer student

News-Editorial Option

Department of Journalism

California State University, Chico

Q. Prior to attending Chico State, did you have any writing experience or internships that related to journalism?

A. None at all. I actually came to Chico State as an anthropology major and pre-med. I wanted to get into anthropological medicine, so journalism was far from what I had been studying.

Q. Why did you choose to study at Chico State?

A. To be honest, it was the closest college town to Tahoe. I was pretty involved with snow boarding in high school and I wanted to be close to the snow. So I enrolled at Butte, fell in love with Chico during my two years there and decided to transfer to Chico State.

Q. Why did you choose journalism as your major?

A. I've always loved to write. Aside from that, I'm an extremely curious person in general. Journalism is all about getting out there and finding out what's going on and then writing about it. It seemed like a perfect fit.

Q. What is your minor?

A. Cinema Studies

Q. What misconceptions about your journalism major (that your coursework has now cleared up, of course) did you have before you entered the program?

A. I had this idea stuck in my head that if you're a journalist, you're going to write for newspapers for the rest of your life. I've come to realize that that is definitely not true. In fact, that's not what I intend on doing at all. There are so many other options out there for journalists such as working with radio, film, broadcasting, etc.

Q. What do you hope to do with your degree?

A. I'd like to work for a newspaper for a couple years to gain some experience. Then I hope to go back to school to specialize in documentary film.

Q. What skills do you think you need to get there?

A. I think it's important that I am able to recognize a good story when I hear one. Knowing what's going on around me is also important. It's all very context oriented. There may be an important issue that people should know about but don't care to. I think a journalist's job is to take those important issues and make them interesting so that people will want to know more.

Q. What are your perceptions of the future of journalism?

A. I think the future of journalism is going to be very technologically based. I don't see actual printed papers lasting much longer. Young journalists should definitely start educating themselves on how to use different mediums because most news will probably be published solely via the Web very soon.

Information compiled by Kelly Dolcini

Cat Bytes is a student-produced publication of the Department of Journalism / California State University, Chico