Jimiera ’28 Earns Spot in Elite New York Times Corps

Only 19 college students were chosen to be part of this year’s highly-prestigious New York Times Corps program – and Emerson College student Madalyn Jimiera ’28 is one of them.  

“Being one of 19 with a record number of applicants, and against everyone else who applied, is a little crazy for me,” said Jimiera.

The Times Corps is a multi-year mentorship program that pairs New York Times journalists with college students. Until she graduates from Emerson, Jimiera will talk to a Times journalist at least three times a year (although Jimiera is hoping they’ll talk more often), focusing primarily on career-building advice. There will also be occasional speakers, training, and activities as part of the program.

For the application process, Jimiera had to provide two professional recommendations from professors; interview with the Times newsroom’s deputy director of Career Programs, Carla Correa; and write a 500-word personal statement about the importance of independent journalism. Just speaking to Correa was a great experience, said Jimiera, who relished the opportunity to talk to a seasoned reporter.

For her personal statement, Jimiera wrote about her work for the Berkeley Beacon as the news section’s deputy campus editor.

“I think it’s important that student journalists are reporting on issues on campuses,” said Jimiera. “The truth is that any journalist is going to have difficulty covering polarized topics when they get into the world. I wanted to share my experience with difficult topics happening around us and why I think I could benefit from having extra guidance from professionals who are already in the field.”

The professional that she’ll mainly be learning from is Jason Bailey, senior staff editor for the Culture desk, who seems like a good fit.

“I have a growing interest in the intersection of arts and culture in society,” said Jimiera, who works as an ambassador at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, and is minoring in art history. “I hope Jason can offer his own experience on why he went into this field. I think the networking I’ll gain from it will be very valuable. Your career is based on your network, who you know, who you trust.”

As a budding journalist, Jimiera is trying different journalistic formats. She’s doing news writing for the Beacon, and also likes writing opinion pieces about topics that are important to her, like the national suicide hotline for LGBTQ+ individuals.

“I’m queer, Asian American, a daughter of an immigrant, and want to write about issues that Asian Americans face,” said Jimiera. “I want to make sure that people are aware of what’s going on and getting the truth.”

One of the reasons Jimiera was attracted to the Corps program is its valuation of journalism resources. She feels fortunate that Emerson has some of the best resources, a great Journalism department, and hands-on student orgs. She is the president of the Asian American Journalist Association, and secretary for the Society of Professional Journalism at Emerson.

Her Beacon experience has greatly helped her develop her skills. “Those are the articles I send out when people need samples,” said Jimiera.

In addition to her Journalism classes, Jimiera said her Intro to College Writing and Research Writing classes with Writing, Literature & Publishing Assistant Professor Amber Lee were very helpful.

“She always gave great feedback and we had great discussions in class,” said Jimiera.

Jimiera is looking forward to the upcoming video call with all of the New York Times Corps cohorts, not just the 19 of her class.

“I’m excited about what it has in store. I can’t wait to meet my mentor and other mentees, and share what I learn with people around me,” said Jimiera. “I want to help other people. As an upperclassman, I want to be that role model for other students, and let them know they can be one of the 19 students, too.”