About

My name is Ashlyn Beck, and I’m a senior journalism major at Baylor University. I’m 21 years old, and I decided I wanted to be a journalist when I was in 5th grade. Since then, I’ve faced many challenges to my once-grand plan and twists that have made me question my career path altogether. I started working at my university’s newspaper The Baylor Lariat fall of my sophomore year. I loved it, and continued until I was promoted to an editor position my junior year. That spring, I participated in a program in New York where I worked as an intern for The Brooklyn Eagle. After a few months, I found myself lacking drive and vision for my career. I was no longer excited about the stories I was writing, and journalism as a whole lost the enchantment that had motivated me for nearly my whole life. 

After returning to Baylor, I continued my role as News Editor. Fall of my senior year, I juggled two majors, two minors, several extracurriculars, a few leadership positions at church and school and having time to myself. On top of that, I was working constantly and felt like my job took up my whole life. My computer was a constant blur of bylines, headlines and ledes. I was constantly thinking about stories and felt like my identity was slipping through the cracks of the job that had to get done. 

I’m still facing these challenges. There are many things about the journalism world I find frustrating. I think hard news is often traded for clickbait. The media has become increasingly more biased. News requires subscriptions, and free publications are going bankrupt. 

Yet, within all the challenges, I’m on a journey back to 5th grade Ashlyn who loved journalism. She was passionate about the truth and wanted to use journalism as a voice for those who didn’t have one. Now, I’m doing my very best to find my way back to that passion and drive for 5th grade Ashlyn’s future career. Along the way, I’ll consider the things that make me frustrated about the current state of journalism. I’ll accept them, learn from them and move on to rediscover the importance of journalism. I’m glad you’re here. Come with me on my journey back to enchantment.