By: Alessia Catania

Fast forward three years to the end of my senior year of college. By then, I expect to be nearly finished earning my bachelor’s degree in journalism with possibly a minor involving digital design. But is it all worth it to receive that particular degree in today’s world? Can I truly make a living and a life with that particular degree?

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Photograph by New England Review

Carolyn Kuebler, an ambitious woman who is currently the editor of the New England Review, made me think twice about my future occupation after I read her personal experiences in The Little Magazine in Contemporary America. Of her many accomplishments within the publishing industry, one of her most notable accomplishments that she spoke about in “Making a Living and a Life in Little Magazines” was being the founding editor of Rain Taxi, “a literary organization that champions literary culture through programs and publications that foster engagement with innovative writing.”

Before creating Rain Taxi, however, Kuebler’s work with small presses right after college opened her eyes to the notion that publishing could be “a creative enterprise as much as it was a business.” This meant that she was surprised to find a correlation between doing what she loved with literature simply because she loved it, while also finding a way to be financially stable. Her ability to pursue what she loved and still make money was immensely relatable and inspiring. Even throughout my high school years and transition into college, I would always hear about Journalism being a pointless major due to a low-starting salary. With this in mind, my first job right after graduating college would most likely be a low-paying job. Unfortunately, I must also remember that this job probably won’t even cover the cost of just one year of my college tuition. However, like Carolyn Kuebler, I do have hope in eventually finding my own way of pursuing what I love, journalism, while also having a decent, if not high-paying, salary to live off of.

Individuals who are soon-to-be college graduates have most likely thought long and hard about how difficult it will be to earn a well paying, full-time job right after graduation, depending on their major. For me as a current freshman, I am even more sure that it will be difficult to get that well paying, full-time job if I still desire a degree in journalism three years from now.

Although Kuebler’s essay was not about finding a high-paying job, my struggle to choose a major that also pays well is a huge problem that always stays in the back of my mind. I may only be in my first semester of college, and have yet to officially declare my major,but realizing this issue is a tad bit scary, especially when imagining myself attempting to be an independent adult and begin paying off those hefty college loans on my own.

Rain Taxi

Along with the many other negatives, the work day of a journalist or publisher could be quite long considering that pieces must be ready at certain times and deadlines are usually extremely strict. In “Making a Living and a Life in Little Magazine,” Kuebler explains her experiences with publishing, which are also experiences similar to a journalist’s. She thoroughly describes her literary magazine, Rain Taxi , and the late nights she spent as a founding editor getting issues prepared for print, but also how rewarding it was in the end. She watched Rain Taxi transform into something so satisfying that the time spent awake all night did not even matter anymore, and I could see myself becoming the same exact way while in this similar working environment, except for a different type of magazine.

After becoming more familiar with literary magazines over the past few months, I do find myself somewhat interested in them, but still strongly prefer to work with entertainment or women’s magazines in my near future after college is over.

It is significant to notice that little magazines are not exactly equivalent to journalism. However, there are some aspects that overlap between the two. For example, literary magazines and weekly entertainment or women’s magazines both have a wide audience that requires a long process of putting together a final piece for others to view. In the past, both have cost money, while some other literary and women’s magazines were online for readers to view for free. Just like literary magazines, weekly entertainment or women’s magazines started off as print magazines. In this society with technology being so advanced, numerous magazines, such as Vogue or Entertainment Weekly, have moved over to the online world as digital magazines as well. In addition, I have seen both types of magazines have yearly subscriptions as an option.

With all of this taken into consideration, I still believe that if I love what I do with journalism in the future, then the salary does not matter. Of course it would be more convenient to get paid well, but I also want to love what I do and just work my way up in the world, like Kuebler did. I may not have the greatest starting job right after college, but at the end of the day, any job would be better than not having a job at all.

Regardless of the negatives of officially becoming a journalism major, I have confidence that I will get through any tough tasks if I continue to be passionate about journalistic writing. Who knows?! Maybe I’ll get lucky and get employed by a well known entertainment or women’s magazine, such as People or Cosmopolitan. Hopefully, they will recognize me for the ambitious person I am, who earnestly enjoys journalistic writing and digital design.