By Doris Thompson
BYU students can go to the Student Journal Fair from 3 to 6 p.m. in the Wilkinson Student Center today and find out how to get their name in print.
About 20 publications will have representatives in the Garden Court to answer questions about submissions and to find students interested in working on the journals.
“I think because it is in the Garden Court it is fairly accessible,” said Melinda Keefe, an English major from Waterloo, Iowa, and one of the organizers of the event. “People can just wander through. It”s not like a guest speaker, so you don”t have to be on time. It”s kind of an open house everybody can just come and see what they want, ask their questions and then leave.”
This is the first time an event of this magnitude has been put together for the student journals on campus, and the organizers said they are excited about the publicity it will give the journals.
“We started digging these random journals out of the woodwork,” Keefe said. “So we decided to put it all into one big, huge room and let them go at it. There are the ones everyone”s heard of but also some very special, unique ones.”
One of the goals of the fair is to get exposure for the journals and the students.
“We want to give students an opportunity to see what”s out there,” Keefe said. “And to find a journal that they”re really compatible with and to be able to meet the staff members and to really feel they”re welcome.”
The fair will not only give students the chance to make connections with a publication, but also help them to find opportunities to publish.
“A lot of graduate schools look for students who”ve published,” said Katie Drew, a senior from Holladay, majoring in English. “It looks great on your resume as an undergraduate.”
Another organizer agrees on the importance publishing for BYU students.
“Being published as an undergraduate is a huge coup for a student,” said Sarah Jenkins, an English major from Bountiful.
One other goal of the fair is to garner staff for the journals.
“All of them have opportunities for students to work and gain experience,” Keefe said.
Jenkins said that her experience working on a student journal was priceless.
“I just started working with the student journal ”Inscape” and a few others, and it made such a difference to me to get involved with the process,” Jenkins said. “I wish I”d found out about it forever ago.”
