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So far I really like our curriculum. We’re not only learning how to be better writers, but also how to perform well if we decide to work on a radio and produce our own visual material if we want to work on TV. I think those aspects are necessary to make a good journalist because we have to learn to be dynamic and adapt to different type of jobs. That being said, I think we’re lacking a little in terms of how to approach writing from a place of privilege. What I mean by this is that, for example, courses about how to deal with topics like racism, sexism and homophobia/transphobia should be mandatory. People from this University love to say that we’re the best, but we have to show that by being able to tell all kinds of stories, not just the ones we know first-hand. Right now I’m taking a class about gender where we analyze its conventions and stereotypes and how as future communicators we have to learn not to let them rule us. I’ve learned a lot and I think it’s so necessary, but ye...

I've always liked different types of arts: music, film, paintings and sculptures. Lately I've been appreciating the art of Frank Ocean, a singer and rapper from the United States. He was born as Christopher Lonny Edwin Breaux but goes by Christopher Francis "Frank" Ocean now. He’s said the movie Ocean’s 11 inspired him to change his name. Frank released his first album, Channel Orange, in 2012. He then released his second album, Blonde, 4 years later. Both albums are very different and I don’t think I can choose which one is my favorite. What I love most about Frank is how dynamic he is while still staying in character. He mixes different sounds but he always sings about the same things: loving someone, missing them, and thinking about a time when he was young. I love Frank as an artist because of how brave he is to try new things. He’s also really brave in what he sings. Bad Religion, one of the tracks from Channel Orange, is about Frank being in love with a...

This morning a very important bill that benefits transgender people over 14 years old in our country was signed by the president. This new law allows transgender citizens to legally change their name and assigned gender on official records and finally see their identity respected by our government. It is huge news and I'm very happy for those who will be benefited by this measure!  It is important to point out that even if it was Sebastian Piñera who signed this bill, this isn't his doing. In fact, this bill was introduced in Congress 5 years ago under Michelle Bachelet's government and suffered intense criticism by Chile's most conservative politicians and also the general public, which, sadly, are very trans-phobic in our country. This law is the work of LGBT groups and Bachelet who made it priority during her time as president.  But regardless of my feelings about it, this law has incredible importance especially considering how conservative our country has ...

There’s still a long way to go — I’m still in my fourth semester — but once I graduate I would love to do a post-graduate course at New York University (NYU), which is one of the best and most known universities in the United States. They offer a variety of courses to take, but the one that interests me the most is “Literary Reportage”. I like it because it’s a mix of both things I love — literature and journalism — and it would be an amazing way to become a better writer and reporter. I think it would be such a rewarding experience that would make me without a doubt a better journalist. I’ve always wanted to study at NYU, and actually making it there would be a dream come true. I’ve always dreamed of the city so that would be a plus. To get there, I would have to take the TOEFL and get very good results, and also send them a few works of my own, letters of recommendation and tell them what kind of projects I would be interested in writing and then actually write them at the end ...

The fun thing about studying Journalism is how broad your options are after you graduate. I have a few ideas of what I’d like to do, but I wouldn’t think of any of them as final decisions because I still have long to go. One thing I would .really love to do is work in something related to entertainment. I currently write movie reviews on a blog online, and that’s given me a lot of opportunities to watch and write about what I love. I would love to get a job related to that, maybe in a newspaper or even on TV. I’ve had the chance to share with people who write movie reviews for a living, working for La Tercera, TVN or Mega, which gives me hope. From what I gather, it is a very hectic job, but I would love to have an office. I would love to travel if the opportunity arises, too, which I know journalists like María Inés Sáez (who works for Mega) do. The only thing I dislike about this kind of journalism is that is full of men with big egos. I’ve gone to press releases of a film and th...

I had a rough first experience at university. Before I got into Journalism, I studied a year in Law School. When I graduated highschool in 2015, I wanted to be a lawyer really bad. I wanted to help people, so I studied hard and got into Universidad de Chile’s Law School. But as classes went on, I became really disheartened with the career and its people. I think a lot of people that study there are very self-centered and even selfish. They don’t really want to make friends, they want to be the best and prove that to the rest. I wasn’t interested in that. Plus, all the professors there were treated like deities and not actual people. The majority of them have worked years there and are very old, and they think because of that they can say whatever they want and spread their horribly conservative views with the students. You couldn’t even speak out if you disagreed with these views, which I found very stupid. After a semester, I ended up leaving. It was very hard because I had a lot...