We had the opportunity of getting to know Professor Jarice Hanson — hopefully you will too!
Her Campus UMass: Where did you attend university and what was your college experience like?
Jarice Hanson: I’m originally from the Midwest, and I was a first generation college student. I went to Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago for my undergraduate degree, which was in media studies. Then I went on to receive my MA and PhD from Northwestern University, which changed my life. It was different going to school there, because nearly everyone had a full-time job while also attending school. I worked for WBBM -TV, which was a CBS-owned and operated station. I worked as a record producer when they owned Columbia Records, and I also worked as a substitute news anchor when the regular people were out — which meant I had to work Christmas and Thanksgiving when everyone else was home with their families! Since I was studying media, CBS actually paid for much of my education, and I was able to get a lot of my undergraduate tuition paid that way.
HC: What was it like working as a news anchor and reporter?
JH: It was a great experience, but I really lost interest in it when I had to cover a story about a fire at a parochial grade school. I had to interview the parents who had lost children. My boss wanted to get the stories that would have a really powerful emotional impact on the audience, and you know in the news they say “if it bleeds it leads.” But it was just so hard to feel good about interviewing these parents, who had no interest in talking to us and were so numb. Other than that story, I had other general assignments, like a car that got hit by a train, a little pet parade where kids walked their pets around in costumes. Those were the human interest stories I liked but it also made me think — is this what our news is really is made up of?
HC: Could you describe your career path and what ultimately brought you to UMass?
JH: I went to Europe for a couple of years between by schooling. I worked at Bush House in London which was the headquarters for the BBC. I just walked in from the street and applied for a job and they hired me. They were impressed I had taken media courses at a university. I lived and worked in London for two years. Parts of it I loved — England had just gone into the common market, or the European Union, and financially it was extremely difficult. After I moved back from London to finish my education I worked at Rutgers and Quinnipiac Universities in their communications department. When I was at Rutgers, I met someone from UMass who told me about a job opening in the Communications Department, and I’ve been here ever since. I have also done consulting work for J. Walter Thompson, which is an advertising company based in New York City. I did consulting work for over ten years.
HC: What advice do you have for current female college students?
JH: I think that one of the most important things about the college experience is being around things you wouldn’t normally be exposed to. It’s important not to pre-judge people. College is really the chance to try something out and fail with minimal consequences.
HC: What is the best advice you have ever received?
JH: In terms of industry advice, a producer, Garry Marshall, once told me that you have a number of bad things that will happen to you in your life, so you might as well get them out of the way so you can enjoy the good things. My high school band teacher used to have a banner up in our classroom that said “Results, not excuses.” That’s something I have truly come to appreciate and understand.
HC: Do you have any advice specifically for students who are working their ways through college?
JH: I would say that they should trust that things are going to change and get better. There will always be stress in your life, different kinds of stress and you can’t avoid it. But you can learn how to manage it. I think it’s important that we find something beautiful in every day.