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Worldwide Traveling Journalist Visits Post

Speech by professional journalist

Kathleen Joyce

Long Island native Mary D’Ambrosio visited C.W. Post last Thursday, February 10th. Students from the Media Arts Department filled the Humanities classroom to above expectations. Professor Sandra Mardenfeld gave extra-credit to students in her class who attended, but even without the extra-credit, students still sat with wonder at what D’Ambrosio had to say.

D’Ambrosio explained that she received a degree in Journalism from Syracuse University. Her first trip was to Latin America because that is where the news was at that time. She stayed in Latin America for four years covering stories for the Associated Press and other news publications. While in Latin America she spent time in Cuba, Brazil, and Venezuela. In Venezuela she worked for an English Language paper and even got to meet the infamous Fidel Castro.

After Latin America, D’Ambrosio traveled to Turkey, Great Britain, and Italy to cover various news stories. She has written for Newsday, Working Woman, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Miami Herald. She is also the founding editor of Big World Magazine. Big World Magazine focuses on students writing pieces on their travels, and what news they report while in a different country. You can join by going to the website: bigworldmagazine.com and logging in.

D’Ambrosio urged students who are interested in Journalism to travel to different countries and report stories that are going on in the area. D’Ambrosio serves on the editorial board of Abroad View, which encourages students to study abroad. Every year, she hosts a trip to Istanbul, Turkey and/or Italy. For a month, students are able to stay in the Turkish College, Bahcesehir University. The students stay in the dorms and take classes five days a week from 9-12 in the afternoon. After classes, students are able to go into the village and report local stories. Students earn 3 credits for the trip from their attending college.

D’Ambrosio showed the students videos of what to expect when in Turkey and Italy. Many students were eager to learn more, D’Ambrosio was available for questioning after.

At the end of the discussion, students were urged by D’Ambrosio to do internships, travel, and write more while you are young. Corporations will be impressed to see that a student has traveled and written his or her own stories, which could be sold to American newspapers. “Journalism is a competitive field, but if you start from the bottom and work your way up, you can achieve anything,” said D’Ambrosio.

 

 

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