2025 Hawai‘i College Guide: Launching a Journalism Career

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Photo: Courtesy of Hailey Akau

I wanted to transfer schools during much of my time at college. The social and academic environment at Emerson College, a liberal arts school in Boston, felt too different from my high school, ‘Iolani. I initially majored in theater, and despite being an artsy type in high school, I felt out of place in the program. The academics weren’t as rigorous and structured as they were at ‘Iolani, and I wasn’t as interested as my gung-ho classmates in creative pursuits like self-produced films, art projects and comedy troupes.

Despite switching majors to writing, literature and publishing during the second semester of my freshman year, I still felt isolated and disconnected from the Emerson community. I had a close-knit group of friends and joined a few performing arts clubs, but I wasn’t inspired or motivated by my courses.

At the time, two of my friends worked on the school newspaper, spending every Wednesday evening writing and reporting stories for the Berkeley Beacon. Knowing I was a writer and illustrator, they encouraged me to pitch stories and graphics. So, in the fall of my sophomore year, I joined the staff, which transformed my whole college experience.

Now, my evenings were spent reviewing “suggested edits” on Google Docs and creating digital illustrations, and there were weekly meetings to attend. The Beacon staff was committed to producing quality journalism, and the newsroom, entirely run by students, operated like a professional workplace. I was finally applying academic lessons to tangible work, and this hands-on experience furthered my understanding of journalism and publishing.

Every Wednesday, I looked forward to the weekly production night, when we’d finalize stories and lay out the print edition. I wrote my first bylined print piece at the Beacon and added both stories and artwork to my portfolio. The friends I made there also became the reason I stayed at Emerson. That’s not to say my time at the Beacon was stress-free. We had our share of controversies and errors, and we were even canceled by the student body over a few stories. But from all this, I learned about the nuances and reality of the media world.

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Now, after graduating this past spring, I can say my biggest regret was not joining the Beacon sooner. Confronted by a turbulent job market and a scarcity of journalism jobs, I can’t say the classes I took at Emerson set me up well for a career of my choosing. If it wasn’t for my time at the Beacon, I would have little to show from my undergrad years, and I wouldn’t be in a position to land a journalism job. It’s the articles I wrote and the illustrations I created that best showcase my abilities, giving me a better shot at internships and jobs. The skills I honed, for instance, apply to pretty much everything I do during my internship with HONOLULU, and without my time at the Beacon, I likely wouldn’t be here.

There’s still so much uncertainty in my future, but I’m forging forward with a take-what-I-can-get mindset. I’m sure many other recent graduates can relate. Some of my friends and former colleagues now work for major news outlets, and hearing of their successes gives me a lot of hope.