From college to career: Exploring Northerner alums’ life post-grad

“What kind of a tree are you?” It’s the question that sparked Tara Derington’s love for journalism.  Barbara Walters followed-up Katharine Hepburn’s statement about being a tree in the 1981 ABC interview by asking her what kind of tree she would be.  Ever since then, Derington has been thriving off the passion she had when she was 10-years-old.  Currently, Derington works as the directo...

Abby Dawn’s favorite Northerner memory is being pushed down Griffin Hall’s first floor in a chair, spinning and laughing as she and her co-workers awaited election results.  Dawn (née Anstead), along with every other Northerner staff member, was working until 2 a.m. in 2016 to find out who the next president was going to be.  The design editor had two covers ready to go: one for Trump, ...

Mackenize Manley started at NKU undeclared. Her first semester, she took science courses and hated it; chemistry was not her strong suit.  Eventually, she realized she had a passion for writing and wanted to pursue it more. A friend encouraged her to contribute to The Northerner, so she wrote a few articles and started passing out papers on Wednesdays. She liked writing and working for The Northe...

When were you at The Northerner? 2016-2018 When did you graduate? Major? 2018, English What did you do at The Northerner? In 2017, I started off as the Northerner's social media editor, creating aesthetically-arranged promotions for new issues on Instagram and scheduling Facebook posts as articles went online. I also did weekly rounds dropping copies of the paper off in various locations around cam...

When were you at The Northerner? 2013-2015. When did you graduate? Major? Graduated in 2015 with a B.A. in Journalism. What did you do at The Northerner? I began contributing to The Northerner in Fall of 2013, became a staff writer in Fall of 2014, was Sports Editor for Spring of 2015. What has your career been like since graduating? Since graduating, I've gone into the television newsroom. A...

When were you at The Northerner? August 2013 - May 2014. When did you graduate? Major? May 2014, Public Relations & Communication Studies. What did you do at The Northerner? I served as the Promotions Coordinator during my senior year. I helped run the social channels, run contests, promote the overall brand of The Northerner, etc. I organized us having a tabling presence in the Student Uni...

When were you at The Northerner?  2015-2017. When did you graduate? Major? I graduated in May of 2017 with a Bachelor's Degree in Media Informatics. What did you do at The Northerner?  At The Northerner, I was the Digital Content Manager. Within that role, I assisted the writers with creating the best possible display for their stories on the web. I created infographics, custom web pages, and ...

When were you at The Northerner? 2013-2016. When did you graduate? Major? Journalism, with EMB and MIN minors. What did you do at The Northerner? I wrote articles mostly pertaining to arts and life, but I did a few news stories. I eventually became the arts and life editor for The Northerner. In that role, I oversaw arts and life articles and continued to write them.  What has your career been ...

When were you at The Northerner? 1997-2001. When did you graduate? Major? May 2001, Journalism. What did you do at The Northerner? Volunteer staff writer (1997-1998), news editor (Fall 1998-Spring 1999); special projects editor (Fall 1999); managing editor (Spring 2000); editor in chief (Fall 2000- Spring 2001). What has your career been like since graduating? Graduated in May 2001 and got a j...

When were you at The Northerner?  Fall 2015 through Spring 2017. When did you graduate? Major? Graduated in May, 2017 with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism with a minor in EMB. What did you do at The Northerner?  I was the Sports Editor through the 2015-2016 school year. I was Managing Editor in Fall of 2016 and Editor-in-Chief in Spring of 2017. What has your career been like since graduat...

When were you at The Northerner?  2012-2015. When did you graduate? Major?  I graduated in 2016 with a degree in Journalism and minors in Communication and Organizational Leadership.  What did you do at The Northerner?  I started out at The Northerner as a staff writer and the youngest one on staff, at that. I would write ANYTHING that was asked of me, and didn’t have a preference of ar...

When were you at The Northerner? 2003-2005. When did you graduate? Major?  2005, journalism. What did you do at The Northerner? News/features writer. What has your career been like since graduating? I began interning for Cincinnati Magazine during my last two years at NKU. In 2005, just before graduation, I accepted an assistant editor position at the magazine that I began in January of 2006. My time a...

When were you at The Northerner? I wrote my first story for The Northerner in fall 2016. When did you graduate? Major? I graduated in May 2019 with a BA in JOU and an EMB minor. What did you do at The Northerner?  I started as a staff writer, moved up to copy editor and later became news editor. I was editor-in-chief last year. What has your career been like since graduating? I started at WCPO i...

When were you at the Northerner? September 2017 - December 2018. When did you graduate? Major? December 2018; Major in Electronic Media Broadcasting/Minor in Journalism. What did you do at The Northerner? Started out as a sports contributor then after a few articles worked my way to sports reporter. After almost a year at the reporter position, I became the sports editor until I graduated in Dec...

When were you at The Northerner? Three years. (February 2011 to May 2014) When did you graduate? Major? May 2014. What did you do at The Northerner?  Managing editor, copy editor, sports editor, staff writer. What has your career been like since graduating? Since graduating, my career has been similar to my time with The Northerner, by being involved in publishing weekly newspapers. I am cu...

When were you at The Northerner? 2015-2018. When did you graduate? Major? May 2018. Double major in Journalism & English. What did you do at The Northerner? I worked in several roles — first as a street team member and reporter. I filled the role of news editor, managing editor and editor-in-chief. Each role had unique responsibilities, but throughout my time at The Northerner, I wrote a vari...

When were you at The Northerner? I worked for The Northerner from 2013-2017. When did you graduate? Major? I graduated in May 2017 with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and a minor in Electronic Media and Broadcasting. What did you do at The Northerner?  I started as a staff writer, but I always chased news. I was drawn to that. I became News Editor, then Managing Editor until I went on to be Editor-in-...

When were you at The Northerner? 2010-2013. When did you graduate? Major? 2013, BA in journalism. What did you do at The Northerner? I was a staff writer for The Northerner, but was limited to fashion and the occasional student government elections because I worked for housing and was involved in Greek life. I also pitched and wrote the copy for the radio stories—something that I hated at th...