NARRATOR：

Listen to a conversation between a student and his faculty advisor.

FEMALE ADVISOR：

Hi, Steve, I scheduled this appointment ‘cause it’s been a while since we touched base.

MALE STUDENT：

I know, I’ve been really busy. A friend of mine works on the school paper.

He asked me if I would like to try to reporting. So I did and I really love it.

FEMALE ADVISOR：

Hey... that's sounds great!

MALE STUDENT：

Yeah... the first article I wrote, it was a profile of the chemistry professor, the one who was the named teacher of the year.

My article ran on the front page.

When I saw my name, I mean, my byline in print, I was hooked.

Now I know this is what I want to do—be a reporter.

FEMALE ADVISOR：

Isn't it great to discover something that you really enjoy?

And I read that article too. It was very good.

MALE STUDENT：

To be honest, the articles got a lot of editing. In fact I barely recognized a couple of paragraphs.

But the editor explained why the changes were made.

I learned a lot and my second article didn't need nearly as many changes.

FEMALE ADVISOR：

Sound like you’ve got a real knack for this.

MALE STUDENT：

Yeah... anyway, I am glad you schedule this meeting because I want to change my major to journalism now.

FEMALE ADVISOR：

Um... the university doesn't offer major in journalism.

MALE STUDENT：

[pretty upset] Oh no...

FEMALE ADVISOR：

But...

MALE STUDENT：

I... I mean... should I transfer to another school, or major in English?

FEMALE ADVISOR：

Er... wait a minute. Let me explain why the major isn't offered.

Editors at the newspapers... editors... um...

I mean, when you apply for a reporting job, editors look at the two things: they want to see clips, you know, some of your published articles; they also want you to try out. They'll give you an assignment like... covering a press conference or some other event, then see if you can craft the story about it, accurately, on deadline.

MALE STUDENT：

[taken aback] So they don't even to look at my major?

FEMALE ADVISOR：

It is not that they don't look at it... it is... well, having a degree in something other than journalism should actually work to your advantage.

MALE STUDENT：

How?

FEMALE ADVISOR：

Most journalists specialized these days. They only write about science or business or technology for example.

Is there a type of reporting you think you may like to specialize then?

MALE STUDENT：

Well... I think it can be really cool to cover the Supreme Court.

I mean... their decision affects so many people.

FEMALE ADVISOR：

That is really a goal worth striving for.

So, why not continue major in political science?

And, as electives, you could take some Pre-Law classes like constitutional Law, and as for you work on the student newspaper paper, maybe they let you cover some local court cases once that the student and professor here would want to read about.

MALE STUDENT：

Do you know of any?

FEMALE ADVISOR：

I do, actually. There is case involving this computer software program that one of our professors wrote.

The district courts decide in if the university is entitle to any of the professors' profits.

MALE STUDENT：

Wow... I will definitely follow up on that!