Sean Vichinsky is a gamer. His favorite color is blue. He’s a Green Day fan and he dreads the morning alarm that starts his day. His passion for news and journalism however, sets him apart from his peers.
As the Associate Editor of Divine Child’s online press, DC Faith In Action, Vichinsky said he works to absorb every aspect of the MIPA experience in order to help make the online edition even better than before.
If fate has anything to do with journalism, fate pushed Vichinsky’s sophomore class schedule in the right direction. Vichinsky said he never expected to take a journalism class. When filling out his schedule as a freshman for the upcoming school year, journalism was his last out of eight elective choices. As an avid free-writer, Vichinsky decided to give journalistic writing a shot.
Within his first week of entering the journalism field, fresh and inexperienced in writing for news, Vichinsky had a lucky break. He landed his first interview with NPR Correspondent, Laura Sydell.
“(The interview) made me realize (journalism) is something I might actually want to do, but that was more of just a thought I shoved into the back of my mind until come December,” Vichinsky said.
In December of 2012, Vichinsky broke into action when the first news was spread of the tragedy in Newtown, CT. Through gathering and confirming information for the live updates he wrote for his school press, Vichinsky said he realized that journalism was what he wants to pursue in life. Knowing that his coverage would only reach a select amount of people, Vichinsky did his work knowing that if pursuing a journalistic career, he could be part of coverage that reaches millions.
“It was during that time (covering the Newtown tragedy) I was, like, ‘All right, this is definitely what iI want to do with my life,’” Vichinsky said. The constant work to gather and confirm facts to compose a story ignited the passion he now has for journalism.
While at MIPA, Vichinsky said he has enjoyed and taken advantage every opportunity presented to him. On the second day of camp, Vichinsky and other students of the Entertainment Coverage class conducted a telephone interview with upcoming country music star, Rachel Farley. Vichinsky found the interview very helpful and eye opening to a different kind of journalism he had yet to explore.
Having pre-written questions for Farley to answer, Vichinsky got to try his hand at radio interviewing over the phone while at Michigan State University’s on-campus station, IMPACT 89FM.
“It opened me up to a kind of interviewing experience that I really haven’t ever done before,” he said. “Definitely opening me up to a different type of journalism that if I hadn’t come to MIPA I wouldn’t have been able to interact with.”
With plans to graduate college in pursuit of a journalism career, Vichinsky is not yet sure of what he hopes to major in.
“It’s set in my mind that I want to journalism […] I’m thinking about maybe doing a double major between journalism and another major in regards to something I want to write about […] exactly what that’s gonna be, I’m not totally sure yet.”
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