Writing for a Reason

PHOTO CREDIT: Brandon Maxwell

Just one year into college, University of Rhode Island sophomore Julia Geromini is using her journalism major and public relations minor to help her achieve her lifelong dreams.

Hailing from Franklin, Mass., Geromini said she wasn’t really sure why she decided to come to URI in the first place but it just felt right at the time. Even though her choosing of Rhode Island didn’t have any specific reason or purpose, Geromini certainly knows what she wants to do after her college years come to an end.

“I want to be a writer for a television show, or a print journalist or working behind the scenes writing news stories for a broadcast show,” she said. “Anything where I can write and produce the stories that really matter to me. Another dream job for me would be to be on television.”

With her enthusiastic personality, strong confidence and advanced writing skills, journalism seems like the perfect career choice for Geromini especially since she already has prior writing experience as a news reporter for URI’s The Good Five Cent Cigar.

Although she has big dreams, Geromini has prepared herself for the tough job market ahead. In the case that a writing opportunity doesn’t show itself immediately after school ends, she has provided herself a fallback plan by minoring in public relations so she can work in PR or marketing while she waits.

Since it is very probable that a journalism degree and public relations minor will be appearing on her résumé someday, Geromini said she would be pursuing political sciences had she decided not to follow the path she is taking.

“I’m actually really interested in politics and I did well in AP Government in high school so I think I would be a political science major,” she said.

In today’s day and age, journalism often comes under fire for being too biased, unfocused or simply wrong. Geromini said that she hopes to change some of today’s biggest concerns with reporting by making it more topically exclusive in a world where infotainment and political satire are beginning to lead the way when it comes to popularity.

“I think that commercial interests should be kept out of journalism, which is hard to do today when broadcast stations are often owned by big companies," she said. “I think that stories should just be told truthfully and the reader should choose which side they want to take.”

Stating writing as one of her main interests, Geromini said it has been her fascination since she was a child and that she knew that she wanted to be a journalist around the same time. Since she has been practicing since her youth, it is clear to see how much Geromini cares about the profession of journalism and its integrity as a whole. What sets her apart from other journalists, however, is something that many would think is rather unique.

Having so much passion and care for the craft of journalism, makes it clear that plenty of this aspiring journalist’s ambitions can be directed towards her fascination with the story of the average person.

“I think that everyone has a story to tell,” Geromini said. "No matter how small or unimportant their job or life may seem, everyone's life is interesting.”