I often say in #loweclass and elsewhere that there are two kinds of college students: those who want a grade and those who want a career. I'm so pleased that three of my students recently used key elements of their coursework – blogging and personal websites – to showcase their storytelling gifts after experiencing monumental circumstances. It's important to note that in each case the student did so without the work being assigned or garnering extra credit.

Unable to get back to Milwaukee from New York, where he had covered the Big East cross-country championship for the Marquette Tribune, sophomore Christopher Chavez posted "Stranded in New York: The Hurricane Sandy Story" on the website he created for my Digital Journalism II course this semester. "Yesterday afternoon," Chavez wrote, referring to Monday, "the streets in my neighborhood of Jackson Heights were dark and the wind was picking up. I did not step outside my home at all the entire day. I stayed in my room and had my laptop and phone plugged in at all times, so that when I lost power I would be ready to tackle the storm and stay connected."

On October 22, his classmate, Caitlin Miller, also a sophomore, posted "How My Typical Day at Work Changed in an Instant." Miller described how she and her co-workers in The Children's Place in the Brookfield Square Mall coped as authorities responded to the tragic shooting at the Azana Salon and Spa the day before. "I would have never imagined – and still cannot believe – (that) incidents like this could happen in the small suburban city I grew up in," she wrote. "It is still hard for me to grasp the fact that I was outside, right across the street, with the spa in plain view, when Radcliffe Haughton opened fire inside. Nothing prepares you for a situation like that."

On a happier note, Tess Quinlan, a junior who was in #loweclass #digital last semester, on October 14 posted "My Summer Turned Golden in London at 2012 Olympics." In a blog post that cannot help but inspire other aspiring journalists, Quinlan recalled the "incredible production experience" she gained while interning for NBC in the International Broadcast Centre during the Summer Games in England. "Whenever I talk about something that I accomplished while over there, I realize that it was not just my accomplishment, but one of a group of dedicated people that gave everything they had every day," she wrote. "Everyone I met at NBC genuinely cared about each other, but (also) wanted to create great television, a balance that can be very difficult to find."

Please take the time to read all three blog posts. Chavez, Miller and Quinlan won't get a grade for their efforts. But it's easy to see that they are serious about earning something much more lasting: a career. Warms my heart.

It's always exciting to attend a conference that helps prepare journalism students for the jobs and responsibilities awaiting them after graduation. It's just as nice to see lots of professionals and alumni taking the time to share career advice with aspiring journalists. I saw all of this and more at "Auburn Journalism Day" on Friday in Alabama.

Many of the estimated 150 majors in Auburn University's journalism program sat in on one or more of the 10 sessions held in the campus student center. Having only been to Alabama twice before – both times in Birmingham, once for a NABJ regional conference, the other for a wedding – I'm grateful that the program's director, Jennifer Wood Adams, invited me to sit on two panels and to attend its advisory council's meeting and luncheon.

A key component of Auburn Journalism Day: several panelists were Auburn alumni. Indeed, those who joined me on the multimedia storytelling panel – Julie Clark McKinney and Wes Sinor, both of al.com (the Web hub for the Birmingham News, The Huntsville Times and Mobile's Press-Register), and Maxwell Newfield, a production assistant at CNN Documentaries, have all graduated from Auburn within the past few years. "When you're doing broadcast, silence does just as much as talking does," Newfield told the audience while discussing interviewing.

McKinney – who admirably says she considers the live chats that her website does "my baby" – also joined me on the social media reporting panel, as did Anthony Cook, also of al.com, and Bill Barrow of The Associated Press. I loved hearing her share these wise words with the students: "If you are a journalist, you should be reading other journalists" and "you don't want to put anything out there that can come back to bite you. Just keep it professional." 

Journalism Day ended with several professionals and alumni meeting with Editor Robert Lee and other staffers in the newsroom of The Auburn Plainsman. The pros spent an hour offering critiques and tips for the young journalists as Austin Phillips and Judy Riedl, the adviser and general manager, respectively, looked on happily. Congratulations to Dr. Adams and everyone else who helped produce the day's events. By all accounts, it was very worthwhile.

Very pleased to share that the latest edition of Marquette Magazine is out – and that I (finally) have a byline in it. Yes, there may be some bias, but I believe that my university has one of the best alumni magazines around. I imagine all of the 130,000 MU alumni and friends worldwide who get each quarterly issue enjoy it just as much.

In an email suggesting a focus on the election climate and process, Editor Joni Moths Mueller wrote: "Given the subject matter and the fact that our alums belong to both major parties, but also second-tier parties, the issue would not take a left or right slant but be an informative and thought-provoking issue that shares the expertise of some faculty. ... I saw in your blog that you taught a class on social media as it affects campaigning, which got me wondering whether you would be comfortable writing an essay as one of our expert authors – in your case speaking to the impact of social media and the 24-hour news cycle on both candidates and voters?"

Of course, I readily agreed to contribute. Please read my essay, "Campaigning in 140 Characters," which spotlights efforts by The Washington Post, Pew Research Center, NM Incite and others to promote greater interaction between voters and candidates via social media. (I also cited and particularly recommend "Ten Ways Social Media Can Improve Campaign Engagement and Reinvigorate American Democracy," by Darrell West of the Brookings Institution in Washington; and "25 Ways to Use Facebook, Twitter and Storify to Improve Political Coverage," by Mallary Tenore of the Poynter Institute in Florida.) You will find the related faculty essays by Charles Franklin (who visited my elections class last fall), Christopher Murray and Amber Wichowski on the same webpage as mine.

Again, this is my first writing contribution for Marquette Magazine. I must say that it is as gratifying as being featured in one of the publication's alumni profiles in the winter 2006. Reminds me of when the magazine featured a Twitter posting by one of my journalism students, Ceili Emma Seim, in its winter 2010 edition: "I'm having my class assignment critiqued by Pulitzer Prize-winning alumna Jacqui Banaszynski. @Marquette U is seriously amazing."

Journalism students at Marquette University and elsewhere are essentially running eight laps around the having-a-job-at-graduation track, with pit stops after the second, fourth and sixth intervals. The laps are, of course, semesters and the pit stops are summers between freshmen orientation and commencement. Any student serious about a career in journalism knows that newsroom internships are as important as campus media experience.

Marissa Evans, a senior in the Diederich College of Communication, has already interned on the metro or business desks at four newspapers: The Union-Tribune (San Diego), The Star Tribune (Minneapolis), Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and The Washington Post. To her credit, she has helped several of her friends and classmates by letting them know about opportunities and deadlines for internships and offering advice on cover letters and resumes.

Now, Evans, as they say, has gone national! The Poynter Institute on Friday published a wonderful and insightful article she wrote, "10 Steps Young Journalists Can Take to Get a Great Internship." The tips include starting to look now, sticking to the professional experience you want to have, keeping your (paid and unpaid) options open, having a Web presence (beyond social media) and, regardless of the outcome, find ways to practice journalism. I particularly like this tip: look locally and nationally. That may seem obvious to newsroom veterans and recruiters. But I am always surprised by the number of journalism students who are set on staying close to campus in the summer.

Actually, this is the second time a national journalism organization's website has published an article by Evans that offers advice for aspiring scribes. Check out "8 Reasons Student Journalists Should Consider Business Journalism" – she wrote it for the Reynolds Center (businessjournalism.org) in April.

Anyway, to those students and graduates still circling the track, I also recommend my blog post "Covering the Student Cover Letter," and these Poynter articles: Matt Thompson's "10 Ways to Make Your Journalism Job Application Better Than Anyone Else's" and Joe Grimm's "Your Job Application Shows Your Skills." Good luck.

I had the pleasure of joining three journalists for a wonderful panel discussion at the PR+Social Media Summit yesterday at Marquette University. Nearly 250 people looked on as Sharif Durhams of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Kathryn Janicek of WMAQ-TV (Chicago), Andy Tarnoff on OnMilwaukee.com and I generally agreed that social media presents interesting opportunities and challenges for journalists and news consumers.

Major kudos to everyone who helped produce the summit. Nearly 500 people registered for the one-day conference that focused on the convergence of strategic communications and social media. The Diederich College of Communication designed the event for senior executives, marketing and public relations professionals, brand managers, students and leaders and proceeds benefit a scholarship fund for the college's students.

I'm still in awe from having witnessed 250 people seem transfixed during Gee Ekachai's impressive 40-minute, multimedia presentation, "Visual storytelling: How Instagram's become a new social media superstar." Check it out via Slideshare and pay particular attention to the awesome YouTube video about Instagram near the end. (Here's a related blog post about the summit from Tara Vandygriff, a senior public relations student.)

Many thanks to the summit's organizers for allowing my Digital Journalism II students (#loweclass #digital) to attend and live tweet the session, "Corruption of Social Media Discourse: What You Need to Know. Why You Should Care," by David Kamerer, an assistant professor at the Loyola University Chicago School of Communication.

People on campus then saw me rolling deep as #loweclass #digital walked from Alumni Memorial Union to Cudahy Hall to join students from one of my journalism seminar courses (#loweclass #sports) for a panel session titled "Want to Know What it Takes to Make It In Pro Sports?" Sponsored by the university's Circles eMentor Network, the panelists included Milwaukee Bucks General Manager John Hammond and Gord Ash and John H. Steinmiller, assistant general manager and media relations manager, respectively, for the Milwaukee Brewers.

Both classes were assigned to live tweet that discussion, too. By then #loweclass digital was into its second hour of constantly adding to the Twitterverse – and there were rumblings of being held hostage. I cannot win. Some of them moan and groan about spending 3 hours and 40 minutes with me in class each Wednesday. So instead I take them on two field trips and ask them to do a little journalism while there – and they still complain. Students!

Every now and then, an aspiring journalist sends me an email with feedback or an update that brightens my day. Often, it's from one of my Marquette students (see "Journalism Prospect On His Game"). But I especially enjoy hearing from students or recent graduates of other journalism programs (see "Touched By a Graduate's Email"). Another one of those appeared in my inbox this week – and with her permission I share it here:

Good afternoon, Mr. Lowe. My name is Taylor Shaw. I am a May 2012 graduate of Peace College in Raleigh, N.C. Recently, I accepted a position with The Triangle Tribune, a black community newspaper in Durham, N.C. 

I just wanted to thank you for all that you have done for me and my budding journalism career. You have helped me indirectly through the use of social media. I follow #loweclass to stay in the loop. I am constantly learning how I can become a better journalist. I attended a college where media resources were scarce. I learned a lot about journalism through programs with NABJ and internships. I am happy that I have a go-to site where I can stay engaged.

I attended your "Branding You: Student Edition" session during the NABJ convention in June. As a recent college graduate, I knew a strong online presence was key in finding a career. I took your advice on personal branding. I created a digital portfolio, changed my Twitter bio – you featured my twesume on your blog and article for Poynter (how ironic!) – created a cover letter – I used "Covering the Student Cover Letter" – and revamped my LinkedIn page. I constantly go back to the notes from the session as a reference.

Thank you again for sharing your knowledge and wisdom. Sincerely, Taylor Shaw @TaylorShaw_427.

Noting here that my first job out of college was at the Milwaukee Community Journal, also a black newspaper. Anyway, based on her apparent humility, hunger for learning, and readiness to seize upon advice and resources offered by organizations such as NABJ and Poynter, I am confident that Taylor will realize her journalism dreams. For now, I am equally thrilled and humbled that she finds #loweclass and this website helpful.