Andrew Gimpel

If you don’t know by now, I write for Penn State Abington’s college news website as part of Professor Stephen Cohen’s Article Writing course. Though I keep students and faculty informed to the day-to-day events on campus through the Abington Sun, there are few outside the course that understand the mundane goings-on of the newspaper proper. How the course is conducted, how I find information, how my fellow writers support each other, et cetera. So consider this article in particular a small but informative peek into our lives, and perhaps if it’s to your liking, you can join our family as well.

On first impression, the course seems incredibly lax. Nothing is graded at first. There are assignments and discussions to participate in to hone one’s journalistic skills, but these can be attended to at a leisurely (though still focused) pace. Students are expected to complete six separate articles by the course’s end, after which they will be graded on completion and attendance (plus one or two mandatory tests). As Professor Cohen proclaims to us regularly: “This isn’t just a course. It’s a contract.”

With all this in mind, it is terribly easy to grow lax while participating in the paper. With loose due dates and beneficial activities , it imbues one with a false sense of ease. Today’s article can be put off until tomorrow. I’ll complete the discussion questions next week, when I have a clear schedule. This is understandable, speaking as a student myself; as college alumni, we’re expected to attend multiple classes in a single semester, each with their own prerogatives and timetables. If we are offered a more flexible curriculum, we might as well take advantage of it to pursue more urgent matters. But I tell you now that Article Writing is no less important. Eventually, you will need to have something to show for the end of the year, and time can easily slip through your fingers.

Writing articles themselves isn’t too great a challenge either when you’ve prepared beforehand. The greatest challenge lies in finding a suitable topic and connecting it to campus affairs. My usual method is to search up relevant topics directly on the Abington Sun for inspiration, pick a topic already being covered and explore a different angle. For example, if one article is covering a theater production of Robin Hood being performed on campus, I would write an article exploring the origins of the Robin Hood mythology, or alternatively, compare it to other interactions of the character in pop culture. Sources are important, but given the informal nature of the course, in-depth citations aren’t necessary when simple online links will do.

In conclusion, Article Writing is a much more complicated enterprise than it would first appear. It allows for a fluid schedule and lax instructions, but it will entail immense self-driven work ethic in order to succeed. It is a course that puts trust in the personal integrity of each individual student who puts in the commitment to put in their time to publish the necessary articles. It’s also a very enriching and informative course. In doing the research, you take a little bit of that knowledge with you for the rest of your life.