sjmc student liala helal awarded 2007 scripps howard top ten scholarship _ journalism & mass...
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1/15/2015 SJMC student Liala Helal awarded 2007 Scripps Howard Top Ten Scholarship : Journalism & Mass Communication : U of M
http://sjmc.umn.edu/news/reporter/winter07-08.php?entry=171096 1/2
A curious student at the MinnesotaInternational Middle School looks onas Helal works on a video story.Photo by Suhair Khalil
Home > News & Events > Murphy Reporter > Murphy Reporter Archive > Murphy Reporter Winter 200708 : SJMC student Liala Helalawarded 2007 Scripps Howard Top Ten Scholarship
SJMC student Liala Helal awarded 2007 ScrippsHoward Top Ten ScholarshipFeaturesBy Jen Keavy
SJMC senior Liala Helal has been awarded a 2007 Scripps Howard Top TenScholarshipthe first ever in the School's history. The competition, which is open tofulltime students entering their junior or senior year who are nominated by theirschools, honors ten of the nation's best journalism students with a $10,000scholarship. The Top Ten Scholars were chosen by a panel of newspaper, broadcastand television professionals for their academic achievement, demonstrated interest injournalism, portfolio and an essay about their longterm goals.
"Winning the award has instilled in me a greater moral responsibility for doing goodjournalism," says Helal, who is a student in the CLA honors program majoring injournalism, minoring in psychology and teaching ESL. "I am thrilled to have so manyopportunities to take on that challenge."
Helal says that she loves the excitement of covering breaking news and the unpredictable nature ofnewsrooms. Last summer, she was the only fulltime reporter intern for the Pioneer Pressin charge ofcovering her own beat, which consisted of six cities in the metro area, as well as general breaking news. Shewas given the opportunity to join the team covering the breaking news of the 35W bridge collapse, and wassent to local hospitals to interview victims and their families the night of the disaster.
Her work as an intern at the Pioneer Press received accolades from newsroom management and peers. MariaReeve, her direct supervisor for the summer internship, says of Helal, "She was responsible and tackled smalltown politics with the poise of a veteran. I felt total confidence in her. Her leads were some of the best I'veseen from an intern. I loved that she also brought her cultural perspective to her work, and the paper gainedquite a bit having her on staff." Helal continues to work part time for the Pioneer Press covering generalassignment news.
In her freshman year at the University, Helal was hired as a reporter for The Minnesota Daily. She worked forabout a year, covering beats such as student groups, student life, international issues and higher education.Throughout her college career, she has written more than 150 news articles published in various newspapers.
Helal has a strong sense of duty in her chosen profession. She explains, "When I'm reporting, I like to think ofmyself as a sponge: My goal is to soak up exactly what I'm there to pick up, and do it accurately and withlittle error. Just like a good reporter, sponges have builtin grooves to feel out empty spaces they need to fill.In that sense, I strive to be a reporter who has knowledge of what is empty in the news, and what I should fillit with, what I should 'soak up' next. It may sound silly to compare myself to a sponge, but it's such a greatmetaphor!"
In addition to being a college student and a working journalist, Helal is an active volunteer, both in thecampus and Muslim communities. During the fall semester, Helal volunteered at a Minneapolis middleschool's Arabic and ESL classrooms, where she helped teachers incorporate news materials and activities into
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1/15/2015 SJMC student Liala Helal awarded 2007 Scripps Howard Top Ten Scholarship : Journalism & Mass Communication : U of M
http://sjmc.umn.edu/news/reporter/winter07-08.php?entry=171096 2/2
their class lesson plans. She's also a Muslim health mentor at the University of Minnesota, where she's part ofa team that uses culturally appropriate techniques to mentor Muslim students on mental health and fitnessissues.
Helal was born and raised in the Twin Cities to parents who came from Egypt and met at the University ofMinnesota. She says that in the future she would like to use her knowledge of Islam and the Arabic languageto accurately cover stories in the Middle East. She's also interested in covering social justice issues, politics,global news, religion, education and health.
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