During her final semester at Hofstra, Ahjané has served as an assistant news editor and a college associate at Fox Nation, while at home due to the coronavirus pandemic. // Photo courtesy of JCPenney Portraits.
My freshman year I did not know much about The Hofstra Chronicle, but I was given the impression that only people who were good writers could be involved in the newspaper. I was right. However, I did not know that getting involved with this paper would make me a better journalist.
In September 2018, my second semester of sophomore year, I got involved with this organization. I was nervous to say the least. I submitted many articles that were never put into print. After a while, I took a hiatus from going to meetings and submitting my articles. Looking back, I should not have ever done that.
During my time away from writing for The Chronicle, I tried to get into entertainment and feature writing. I got an internship at Cupid’s Pulse, which is a website that mainly focuses on celebrity news, movie reviews, fashion trends, relationships and advice. None of that was me. Although that internship taught me so much, it showed me that I wanted to be a news writer.
After enduring several weeks of not being satisfied with the experience, I decided to come back to The Chronicle. This time when I did not get my article published in the paper, I asked questions. I sat with then-News Editor, Melanie Haid and Editor-In-Chief, Taylor Clarke, to discuss what I was doing wrong. Clarke pulled up my article on her computer and pointed out the areas that I needed to work on. Not only was I not being told these mistakes academically, but I would have continued writing this way professionally. Even though I knew my time here at Hofstra was running out, I still wanted to be involved for the remaining two semesters I had left.
In April, I applied to be an assistant news editor. With one semester left I had no idea if I would get the position. Little did I know I would not be doing this alone.
On Friday, May 8, I got an email with the subject line “Final Assistant Decision.” The email said, “Hello Marjorie, Sam and Ahjané, congratulations, you all have been selected to be assistant news editors for the upcoming academic year!” I was so excited that I would be a part of the Editorial Board. In addition, I was glad that I would be working with two other assistants as well.
To Marjorie Rogers and Samantha Sivert, my wonderful fellow assistants, both of you have made my time as assistant news editor the most enjoyable. Thank you for being a part of my journey and being there to help me. It has truly been an honor working with both of you! I really hope that you will continue to thrive in your internships, future entry-level jobs and overall careers.
To Annemarie LePard, my amazing news editor, please continue to be who you are. You have taught me a lot in my short time here – I’m glad that I’ve learned so much from you. We’ve been through a lot as a section this semester. I have no doubt that this section will continue to grow. Thank you for answering all my constant questions and being there to help all of us when we needed it. This is one of the best work experiences I have ever had thus far.
Advice I want to give to journalism students at the Lawrence Hebert School of Communication: everyone’s journey is different. Not everyone is going to get an internship at NBC, CBS, ABC or PBS. Be authentic and think outside the box. If you know you want to be somewhere try to get there. Also, don’t wait until the last minute to do your internship. Gaining experience and knowledge is key. Don’t ever pass up the opportunity to learn something new.
Right now, reality is hitting me. My emails will no longer say “Hi, I’m Ahjané Forbes, an assistant news editor at The Hofstra Chronicle.” I will not have to announce at an event that I’m there writing a story for The Chronicle. I won’t be on Zoom calls helping our staff writers with their articles. I won’t be up late editing articles, falling asleep with the AP Stylebook in hand. This part of my journey has sadly come to an end. I’ll have to face the fact that my new reality is outside of Hofstra University.
I’ll end with the closing words I gave during my Salutatorian speech at my high school graduation, “rise above all expectations [and] blaze a trail no one else has.” And a reminder that print journalism is not dying. It’s just evolving.