by Connie Kindsvater

Meet Julia Barnett, from Marco Island, a graduate of Lely High School, and one of Naples Press Club’s two 2009 Scholarship Winners.

Julia chose to go further away to school than many Florida students. She chose to attend Colorado State University-Pueblo because she loves the state and has family there. 

Julia is a Mass Communications Major, with a focus in Journalism. She has a double-minor, in Art, with a focus in Photography, and in Italian.  Her NPC “mentor” is Connie Kindsvater, who received a degree from Colorado State University (a while ago).

 
When asked why “journalism” interests her, Julia said, “I was always really interested in writing. I found it enjoyable. And, as I grew older I realized that news writing/reporting is important to people because they rely on it for information, and it’s important to me because it’s what I want to do. I want to provide people with reliable, accurate information.

Currently, along with Freshman General Education classes, Julia is enrolled in a Media & Society class as well as Journalism 101. In the future, she looks forward to the Media Law class, which she feels could be an interesting experience. Julia also plans to join the school paper staff next year. She currently works about 10 hours a week at a work-study job as an event advertiser for the Office of Student Activities on campus, and she’s looking for a job for the summer months. 

When asked about the decline of traditional newspaper readers, Julia said, “I’m sad that newspapers are experiencing fewer readers because newspapers have been a staple in this country since its colonization, and they’re an important mass media for the USA and the world.” That said, Julia has considered an alternative form of journalism/media—and that is photojournalism, which interests her because of her interest in photography. She has also given some thought to online news or magazine writing. 

She plans to graduate in May, 2013, and hopes to then work for a newspaper in Denver or Durango. Long-term, she would love to be a newspaper columnist.

The NPC Scholarship has made a “difference” for her because it’s helping to pay for Julia’s education, especially because she had to give up her Florida “Bright Futures” Scholarship Award because she chose to go to school out of state. 

For fun, when she’s not on her computer, Julia likes to read, and is currently reading James Joyce’s Ulysses. She goes to the movies, when money allows, spends time at her church—or attends Move Nights with friends in one person’s room, or another. Her favorite movie is one that no one else she knows has seen, The Air I Breathe. Julia’s favorite color is purple, her favorite food is ravioli, and she says that her favorite TV show is and will forever be “Buffy, the Vampire Slayer.”