Alcorn University News June 2015 Alcorn alumna Arielle Buchmann’s articles published in USA Today When Alcorn State University alumna and Switzerland native Arielle Buchmann was a student, she spent a good amount of her time searching USA Today in preparation for her weekly current events exam. Now that she’s a budding professional journalist, one of her recent accomplishments has been seeing her articles on the site she spent time studying. Buchmann’s latest article on the arrest of a man who appeared on MTV’s hit reality show “Catfish” was posted on USA Today’s website May 28. In the article, she reported that Jerez Nehimiah, also known as Kidd Cole, was arrested by Metro Transit Police in Washington, D. C. on charges of making terroristic threats against Metro stations, busses and trains. Although this was her third article to be published by the website, it was the first in which her by line was included. “It’s a really humbling experience,” said Buchmann, who works as a multimedia digital journalist, producer and writer for WUSA9, a CBS affiliate in Washington D.C. “It was the first time that it actually hit me that my articles are being pulled for USA Today. In the past, I haven’t always put my by line on the articles, so to see the article with my name in it was an amazing feeling. I’m forever grateful.” Growing up, Buchmann’s parents required her to watch the news and educational programs, which led to her becoming interested in journalism at a young age. Now that her dream has become reality, she strives to use her love for her profession to make a difference. “I love journalism because it has made me stronger and teaches me something new every day. Journalism allows me to know a little bit about every topic. I love being the first to know information. Most importantly, I love the fact that we can make such a difference if we actually do the right stories. My main reason for doing journalism is to make an impact.” Buchmann, who earned a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from Alcorn in 2013, credits her experience at Alcorn and advice from her mentors for her current success in journalism. “Curtis Aaron, Mr. Larry Sanders and the retired Mr. Robert Walker were people who pushed me day in and day out. I learned valuable skills from them. I think being a student at Alcorn made me work harder than I ever would have anywhere else. Being at a small school was beneficial because we really got hands on experience and the feedback we needed. The hands on experience and being able to learn from Curtis, Mr. Sanders and Mr. Walker are things I cherish to this day.” The cornerstone of journalism is writing. So Buchmann encourages aspiring journalist to develop a love for writing before entering the field. “If you want to be a journalist, you have to develop a love for writing. You also have to like to read and learn new things. These are two of the most important aspects of being a journalist.” SANDRA M. PHOENIX Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 800-999-8558, ext. 4820 404-702-5854 Skype: sandra.phoenix1 1438 West Peachtree NW Suite 200 Atlanta,GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (LYRASIS) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.