Meet Isha Mahajan, a senior Journalism and Political Science double major who discusses her positive experiences and plan to stay at UMass Amherst to pursue a master's degree in Data Analytics and Computational Social Science.
How would you describe your time as a Journalism major, and how has the Journalism Department helped prepare you for your future career?
Initially, I enrolled at UMass as a Political Science major and took an International Journalism class in my Sophomore year. The course enables students to think outside the U.S. media systems and look at global stories from multiple perspectives. I fell in love with it from day one and knew that journalism was something I wanted to incorporate into my life long term. The Journalism Department has had a special place in my UMass career ever since. The professors are great resources and have tremendous respect for diversity in the community. The students and campus media organizations are committed to telling true and impactful stories. I'm grateful for crossing paths with all the people who have taught me, not just about the tools to tell an engaging story but also about the life skills to make ethical decisions and be a good listener and active community member. These are all things I hope to carry with me throughout my life.
Which classes, professors or experiences particularly stand out for you and why?
Every journalism class I have taken at UMass has impacted me positively in one way or another. While some focused on developing technical skills, others enabled me to approach my writing from different angles. One of my favorite classes was Data-Driven Storytelling with Professor Rodrigo Zamith, which I took last semester. It was a perfect way to put a cap on my career as a student journalist because besides learning how to gather evidence through traditional reporting and interviewing, I developed a complementary skill of finding quantified information that would help enhance the credibility of stories. The class taught me how to work in team-based environments and use fellow journalists as resources to work on longer assignments. We worked with R, a programming language used to sort out our data and analyze it. Since it was new to many of us, we all felt comfortable enough to ask more questions and seek each other’s help with our assignments. Professor Zamith was also extremely helpful and made the course logistics go very smoothly. The final class assignment gave us a lot of freedom to produce a story of our choice. It was exciting since we could pick a subject we were interested in and dig deeper into available data to find compelling stories and leads.
While a Journalism major, what is your favorite memory or inspiring moment?
I was in Spain in the Fall of 2019 when the Catalonian Independence Movement was taking place. Working for a local magazine, I was interested in pursuing the developments and interviewed people in the city. It was fulfilling to step out of my comfort zone and learn about a new community from a blank slate. I could incorporate a lot from what I had learned in my classes before going abroad, especially being mindful of ethics and cultural differences. It was very inspiring to put together a podcast episode with a colleague on the subject, and it pushed me to dig deeper into social issues around the world.
Which student media organizations or university clubs were you a part of, and how have you been involved?
I served as the Managing Editor for The Rebirth Project during the 2020-21 academic year but have been writing for it since my sophomore year. Outside of journalism, I have been a member of the Indian Classical Arts Society and served as a junior staffer for the UMass Model United Nations. In 2019, I studied abroad in Barcelona during the fall semester, where I wrote for Barcelona Metropolitan.
What words of wisdom do you have for the next class of journalism students?
There are stories everywhere you look. Chase them down. Tell a good story. The sense of achievement will be nothing short of fulfilling and satisfactory.
What are your hopes and aspirations or post-graduation plans?
I'm staying at UMass for another year to pursue a Master of Science degree in Data Analytics and Computational Social Science. I am excited to stay here a little longer and delve deeper into the world of social science through more rigorous research methods.
What is your dream job?
I hope to work in International Development and find sustainable solutions to socio-economic and cultural issues in different parts of the developing world.