Natalie Staggers. Communication: Print and Digital Journalism

A lot of time and effort went into my choice to pursue journalism. I didn’t grow up with the aspiration of writing for The New York Times or Pitchfork, but writing was always something that I enjoyed, particularly informative and creative writing. I went to the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science (MSMS) and entered college intending to get a degree in mechanical engineering. Mechanical engineering quickly changed to civil engineering, and after taking physics and Calculus II in the fall semester of my freshman year, I decided that STEM was not for me. This had always been my plan, and I was at a loss for what to do.

After a good bit of soul searching, I realized that the two things I had always been passionate about were music and writing. Both of these things felt like an extension of myself, allowing me to process emotions, understand myself and relate to the people around me. I switched my major to Print and Digital Journalism, with the intention of becoming a music critic after graduation. Shortly after, I started working at the campus radio station, WMSV, and spent almost two years there as a DJ.

Throughout my time as a P&DJ major, I have discovered so many new things that I love that I may never have been exposed to otherwise. When I first started taking classes, I was dead set on writing. Granted, I was also terrified of writing and struggled with imposter syndrome, but I knew that it was what I wanted to do and that with practice I would become confident in my ability. As I’ve progressed through my major, I’ve realized that I could actually see myself enjoying many different jobs. My time at WMSV opened my eyes to how enjoyable working in radio can be and landed me an internship at Cumulus Broadcasting in Columbus where I have now worked for about eight months.

Taking Editing and Design made me realize that being in charge of laying out a magazine or newspaper could actually be really enjoyable under the right circumstances. Photo Communication helped me discover my love for photography, specifically of nature and animals. Feature Writing showed me that longform journalism with vivid detail and imagery may take more work than writing short news stories but has the potential to be so much more valuable. Though I didn’t enjoy how structured and news-based TV Production was, it did spark an interest in videography that pushed me to join a documentary class which I’m taking this semester. All in all, I am very thankful that engineering didn’t work out for me because it opened an entirely new world of possibilities for my future.

One of my favorite projects that I’ve worked on was the feature article I wrote on the Starkville-based band, Sonic Voyager. I first encountered Sonic Voyager at Dave’s Dark Horse Tavern in March of 2024 as they kicked off one of the weekly open mic nights. I liked their sound and ended up seeing them a few more times that semester at various events, including Old Main Music Festival. I slowly started to get to know a couple members of the band and decided that I wanted to know the full story of how the band formed and what they planned on doing in the future. As part of my writing process, I went to a couple more gigs, taking notes on how they interacted with the crowd and what made them stand out compared to other local bands.

Interviewing the bandmates was easy and fun and conversation came naturally. I learned so much about their creative process, what urged them to create a real band and how they planned to continue to grow. The more articles I’ve written, the more I have realized that interviews are typically my favorite part of the process. I love sitting down with someone and getting to pick their brain on what they’re passionate about and why they’ve led the life they have. This article in particular allowed me to do that, and I think that the excitement and joy that I felt while creating this piece are evident when reading it.

Choosing a favorite between writing, photography and videography is difficult because I enjoy them all, but I would say that I’m the most experienced with writing. I like photography and videography but feel like other people with more experience in those areas may be able to execute that aspect of our projects better. However, I’m happy to do whatever is needed and to learn throughout the process. Writing comes a bit more naturally to me because I’ve been doing it for the longest, but I love all aspects of journalism.

I hope that this class teaches me how to create a story that is multi-faceted. Most of the writing classes I’ve taken focus specifically on writing. We don’t have to worry about photography, videography or any other aspects of the story. We just get interviews, outline the narrative and write. I hope that this class helps me break out of that mindset and explore storytelling in a new way. I also hope that this class helps me improve my ability to collaborate and work in a group. I definitely consider myself a team player, but group work has always ended up being frustrating in previous classes. Hopefully, working with classmates on projects in this class will be enlightening and show me that group work doesn’t always have to be irritating.

My career plans are somewhat up in the air right now because I’m interested in so many things. I like the idea of having my own business and not having to report to an employer but starting a business in this economy is also terrifying. I could see myself pursuing independent journalism or photography or even creating mini documentaries. In a totally different direction, I could see myself owning a record store or coffee shop. I currently am a creator and editor of an independent magazine, Queue, and if that takes off, I could see it becoming a career. I’m also in multiple bands, and frankly if I could make a living just playing music, I would.

Even though graduation is on the horizon, I’m trying to keep my options open at the moment. I’m focusing on getting through school and trusting that whatever comes next will fall into place how it needs to. I intend on applying to an internship at Paste Magazine over the summer because I have always admired their work so that could potentially lead to a job. I have never been the type of person to focus on one thing at a time so I could very well see myself balancing my time between multiple things. Whatever the future holds, I’m sure that I will love the career path that I choose.

Email me at ngs83@msstate.edu with any questions