Sarah Bahr’s illustrious undergraduate career at IUPUI culminated in BA degrees in English, Journalism, and Spanish, and the 2018 School of Liberal Arts Chancellor’s Award, among many other accolades. She followed up on this tour de force to complete her MA in English here in 2020. Her degrees only tell a part of her story, though.
While at IUPUI, Sarah grabbed every possible opportunity to gain on-campus and off-campus work experience. She consulted at the University Writing Center, served as an editor for the English department’s literary magazine genesis, and wrote for the Campus Citizen, IUPUI’s student news outlet. These experiences gave her the foundation she needed to search for opportunities across Indianapolis and beyond; as Sarah explains it, “My career path was really a series of internships.” Following a one-day externship through the Office of Student Employment, Sarah job-shadowed at Indianapolis Monthly, which led to a summer internship at the magazine, a Pulliam fellowship at The Indianapolis Star, and freelance publications in these and other outlets. These successes positioned Sarah to win a highly competitive Dow Jones News Fund Internship, which placed her at The New York Times. That internship led to her current position as a culture reporter at the Times.
What does Sarah have to say now, having landed a position at one of the most esteemed news organizations in the world? Scramble for internships, and study English:
“An English degree is one of the most practical courses of study available: It teaches you to communicate clearly and concisely, a skill that is in demand no matter which industry you work in, particularly in the digital age. IUPUI’s program was particularly valuable to me because it gave me opportunities to put my skills to the test under deadline pressure and with real-world ramifications through on- and off-campus internships.”
Read more about Sarah’s IUPUI story here: https://50.indianapolis.iu.edu/stories/story/bahr-sarah
