Newhouse senior Blessing Emole has been chosen to attend the exclusive New York Times Student Journalism Institute. Emole is a magazine, news and digital journalism major at the Newhouse School, with a dual major in writing and rhetoric at the College of Arts and Sciences.
The Student Journalism Institute brings together students from across the country to fill a wide range of journalistic roles—from writer and editor to designer, photographer and social media manager—under the direction of New York Times journalists, who serve as faculty.
“I want to be a journalist due to the monumental impact that journalists/journalism plays on the outcomes of political elections, environmental discourse and crafting cultural movements,” Emole tells The Times.
Born in London, Emole grew up in San Francisco; Perth, Australia; Dhaka, Bangladesh; Bangkok; and Lagos, Nigeria before beginning her studies in Syracuse. She interned for the NFL last summer, and was a student writing fellow at The Nation. She has also served as a print and digital designer for The Daily Orange.
Emole was originally tapped to attend the Institute last year, before the COVID-19 pandemic. This year’s cohort includes 24 students selected last year and an additional 22 selected this year, altogether representing 38 universities. They will work remotely.