Oddly sweaty, covered in pimples and anxious for seemingly no reason, high school students everywhere each have to come to terms with one looming decision: who they are going to be when they are older. Some find this task extremely daunting, especially when paired with the stressors of teenage life. Yet others find this challenge to be an adventure, as well as a driving force for discovery within their lives. A fiery redhead, Abigail Brone experienced the latter.
Joining Fairfield University students in Conference Center classroom 104, the Columbia University School of Journalism graduate situated herself in front of the projection screen. In jeans, a button-up long sleeve and Birkenstock slippers, Brone’s casual look mirrored that of the students, but the statewide housing reporter for Connecticut Public Radio brought nothing but class, passion and mentorship to her discussion on Monday afternoon.
“I didn’t think about what I wanted to be until I was leaving college,” Brone said, to a Fairfield University news writing class, emphasizing her love for writing but her insecurities of pursuing such a look down upon art. She explained that her grandmother pushed her to try journalism classes at her high school, and with discovering a passion she was not aware she had, she began to put pen to paper in her search for the top journalism schools.
Continuing down the path of self-discovery, Brone asserts that she “knew next to nothing,” when first taking her classes. Wanting to learn all that she could, Brone got involved with everything. Spending time balancing work at the print newspaper, the radio and the television station, all while being an active member of her sorority. While reflecting on her time in undergrad, Brone emphasized the importance of trying all things in order to figure out likes and dislikes. Spreading herself too thin, the journalist still thinks back fondly at her time within each club, as she was able to craft and hone skills she continues to utilize in her line of work today.
One of these skills was saying yes to everything and never passing up an opportunity. Urging the students to be willing and flexible, Brone relayed how in her first job as a journalist, she was assigned the transportation beat, a segment she knew next to nothing about. Wanting to prove herself, she took the opportunity by the horns and utilized connections she had previously made to get her foot in the door. The journalist made a similar jump in her career in her latest work as the statewide housing reporter for the WNPR. Learning to approach each article like it was the first time she was learning about the topic in order to make her content available to a wide variety of audiences, as well as using connections she made along the way to help make her content more credible.
Young, determined and eager, Brone still has an amazing career ahead. In her discussion with Fairfield University students, she emphasized that it is okay to still be figuring out who they want to be when you grow up, and to try everything they can, asserting that these opportunities will grant lessons that will impact you forever.
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