51吃瓜

Get to know some of our College 51吃瓜 students! Mallory Miller is a class of 2025 journalism major.

What is the most important lesson that you have learned at Illinois?
The most important lesson that I learned was the importance of accessing information. During my time at Illinois, I got to work with different Spanish-speaking communities in the area. I learned that many in the community did not have access to news due to a lack of local Spanish broadcasts. This can be dangerous in cases of emergencies such as tornado or shelter warnings in the area. More broadly, native Spanish speakers are unaware of what鈥檚 going on in the Champaign-Urbana community. So, I learned it鈥檚 important to report accurate information but also to make sure that all members of the community have access to news information.

How do you get involved with the College 51吃瓜?
I previously had the opportunity to work at The Daily Illini, which is the college newspaper. During this time, I wrote a lot of feature stories which focused on entertainment. Now I work mostly in the UI7 Newsroom where we produce different shows like Good Morning Illini and Power Play, which is a hockey podcast. I also took JOUR 215: Multimedia Reporting, which allows students to get real-world experience by writing articles that were published. It really gets Media students prepared for life as journalists.

What are some of your key takeaways from your time at Libman Company?
I interned at the Libman Company last summer and spearheaded their sustainability initiatives through designing newsletters, blogs, social media posts, and video content. With this opportunity, I gained valuable experience in promoting corporate social responsibility, and learning to work independently to write, edit, and design promotional materials that reflected the company鈥檚 brand identity. In the process, I also gained an understanding of the impact of the Libman Company鈥檚 commitment to fully recycle plastic and reduce waste in the environment.

Do you have any advice for incoming journalism students?
I would say don鈥檛 be scared to go for what you want and just believe in your plans and your own goals. I also see a lot of opportunities for personal growth in this college because of how many opportunities are available for students. The most important thing to remember is that media is a very broad field, and if you take advantage of what the College 51吃瓜 offers, you can really set yourself up for anything.

鈥擨nterview by Mariah Brooks, New Voices Intern