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Dean Myers

Dean Myers

Major: Journalism/Print

Year: Senior

To me, journalism is an art. Where a sculptor would use a chisel, I use a pen. Where a violinist would draw upon a wealth of notes, I use a colorful vocabulary. Where a painter would use brush strokes, I use prose. And while more commonly accepted definitions of art are on display in galleries, mine is on display in kitchens, family rooms and offices around the world. Many artists stimulate the mind with pictures, I just happen to use words.

Whether I'm racing against a deadline to break a story or I'm crafting a 100-inch-long profile (that's where my true passion lies), my views remain the same. There's more to reporting than just telling the facts. Whether there's a photo with my story or not, readers want pictures, and I intend to give them that.

When I first decided on journalism as a major, a career path and a life, it was to report on sports. Getting paid to watch sports? Sign me up! Since then, I've come to embrace that art of journalism I spoke of earlier. Emotionally gripping stories that explore the subject's mind and incite change - whether you call it new journalism, literary journalism or narrative journalism, it's where I've come to reside in the ever-evolving newsroom.

Now, almost four years removed from entering college, I like to believe that I've found my niche. I've grown fond of the "art of hanging around," as Gay Talese once put it. I've learned, and taken my readers with me as I did, that a college student dominating intramural hockey leagues could also be using hockey to cope with the death of his girlfriend. I've learned that a physically intimidating boxer can be anything but intimidating in person. I've learned professional action sports athletes are still searching for legitimacy 20 years into their careers. And I've learned, above all else, that the one thing everyone can understand is the vulnerability of the human condition. Telling people a story with that component is what I've come to love. And as Tom Brokaw once put it, "It's all storytelling, you know. That's what journalism is all about."