Who I am.

I am John McKeown, a 22-year-old English major/journalism minor at the University of Michigan-Flint. I've been writing fiction since I was 13, penning short stories and trying to write novels. Even now I'm trying to write fiction, as the passion never really died.

I became interested in journalism almost as a panic move. I had heard time and again that English wasn't a particularly good major if one wanted to be employed after school outside of the teaching field, and so I went for reporting as a way to broaden my list of skills. I figured that if I was going to get paid to write, this medium would be as good as any other. I started writing on the Michigan Times a little while ago, and found I actually enjoyed doing stories, even with the pitfalls I faced.

The reason I chose to try this class is for the same reason I chose to try my hand at journalism, and that was to broaden my skills. I feel that gathering the biggest array of talents that I can will help me be more marketable in the field and open up more positions for me. Along with this class I'm taking photojournalism and telecommunication performance, and plan to take web design classes before I graduate. While I certainly don't think just taking these classes will make me a battle hardened editor, ready to take on the rigors of print and the Internet, I do think I'll be able to expand my knowledge base with these classes.