Kristin Goosen

Hey there! I'm Kristin Goosen, a journalism student at UMD. During the past 4 months, my writing has been going through an overhall. It's easy to put words together, and I've learned it's harder to do it in a journalistic fashion. At the beginning of this semester, I was a pretty static writer. I could write fluff pieces about plays, sports, all that jazz. I had never really gone out searching for a story, and that all changed very quickly. Now, I'm beginning to come into my own doing actual reporting. I've gone on a journey. I started out writing about Lincoln Park, not a story I could be emotionally invested in, and it really showed with my writing. During the Rockin' for Hope story I got to go to the venue and realized, hey, I'm not such a bad interviewer after all, though I could still use some work. By the time I got to the portfolio piece, I chose a young man working for his dreams, and his passion for his work gave me a new passion for mine. Finally, getting to the Meals on Wheels story, I felt like I was finally a real reporter going out and doing journalism. I interviewed some of the greatest people I've ever met and truly got a story I'm proud of. The effort that was put in was well worth it, and I've learned that especially with reporting, you get out what you put in. Most of the fun in this job is going out and meeting the people, and I think that's what I'd like to keep working on and making my strength: capturing people in my articles. I think my little journalistic adventure is perfectly captured in the progression of my work.