Christine Cioppa: Journey of a Northeastern student
Featuring Chrisitne Annette (Brophy) Cioppa, Journalism, BS, 1995
During the hot, sticky summer mornings, walking to my first co-op at the Boston Globe from the JFK/UMass station, I began to do something I never did before — envision the future I wanted. Career dreams were small seeds of thought back then. Sometimes a Globe reporter, also walking from the station, would generously walk with me, sharing advice on being bold, landing interviews, and positioning my writing samples.
Featuring Christine in her dorm
Somewhere in that first year of college at Northeastern, it occurred to me that I wanted a career in magazine publishing. Over time my goals became very specific. When I bought a copy of Marie Claire’s first U.S. issue at a bookstore, I knew I wanted to work there someday. It would take four years, but I eventually did intern there.
Perhaps one of the best soft skills I developed at Northeastern was the ability to believe in what’s possible to achieve — and to believe in myself. Part of that comes from experience through doing. Co-ops and writing for the school newspaper helped me develop confidence that grew stronger with each successful experience.
Journalism classes were a great foundation for my writing skills, but I learned the most from writing for the Northeastern News, now News @ Northeastern. One of my friends was also a j-school student, and we went to networking events and joined the student-run newspaper together. I spent plenty of late evenings scoffing down a Burger King cheeseburger from the Student Center while finalizing a story on a shared computer.
There has never been another time in my career where I could write about whatever I wanted with so much freedom and VIP access. My friend was very into pop music, so we got press passes to music events like Aerosmith’s record release party at the Hard Rock Cafe. We had front row VIP press passes for an all-day Kiss 108 concert so we could photograph the artists on stage, including Salt-N-Pepa. We also got backstage passes, where musicians mingled with journalists who were conducting interviews. These experiences were published in the style section.
Featuring photographs from the Kiss FM concert
The school newspaper provided endless opportunities to explore what interested us as reporters. I wrote news and style articles, covering everything from international student issues and cheerleading to local eateries and art exhibits. Since I wanted to work at a fashion magazine, I started a fashion column named Fashion Glimpse. For my column, sometimes a photographer would come along and take photos of campus fashion while I jotted down notes, sometimes with a recorder in hand. I wrote on various topics, including clothing made from recycled bottles, shoe trends in the US, skiing apparel and celebrities such as Yolanda M. Cellucci, a fashion entrepreneur from Waltham who was once featured on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. Exploring multiple topics allowed me to stretch and grow and become a better reporter.
My co-op experiences helped make the connections between campus writing and real-life work environments. My first co-op provided inner access to a major news organization humming with excitement, The Boston Globe. Besides networking and opening mail at the Globe, I transcribed a celebrity interview with Robert De Niro for film critic Jay Carr. I helped edit down TV listings and sorted wedding announcements for the bridal section.
When I graduated, I realized that co-ops seemed to come easier than a full-time job. I spent an enormous amount of time sending cold letters or responding to classified ads. I made a point to use the advice from one Globe reporter, who told me to make a one-page collage of my writing samples to show off a greater variety of Fashion Glimpse columns. This improved my clip scannability and cut down on the bulk of clips in my resume packets.
One day, while working at my call center job at New Balance in Allston, an editor at Body Mind Spirit called me. She said the magazine wanted me to write a beauty article for their special beauty issue, but I’d have to go there that day for an interview. I told my boss I had to leave and rushed home to throw on a suit before taking the train to Providence. After working on the article for a week, I was offered a part-time job as an editorial assistant. It was a combination of serendipity, effort, and timing. It felt magical. The little seedling ideas for my publishing dreams suddenly started to bloom, and it was only the beginning.
Featuring some magazines that Christine has written for
After I had two magazines on my resume, Body Mind Spirit and Marie Claire, I finally started receiving editorial tests and interviews for the big magazines in New York City. I interviewed at several magazines and publishing companies, including Glamour, McCalls, Field & Stream, Good Housekeeping, and many more before landing a full-time position for Family Circle, where I had a health news column for five years. These successes came from pursuing my goals despite the rejection letters, the frequent “no” responses and the interviews that led to nothing.
If you’re trying to break into magazine publishing, resilience and a sharp focus can help as well as having current writing samples, whether from online publications, the school newspaper, or in print. It’s also important to find a niche you enjoy. For example, I realized I enjoyed writing about health more than fashion; focusing on health content opened up more opportunities to write.
A personal metamorphosis of sorts — that’s how I would describe my time at Northeastern. The aimless young adult that I was before arriving at college transformed into a strong and purposeful woman who found herself, created goals, and then achieved them.
Read more about Christine Annette Cioppa’s experience in magazine publishing in her book, Breaking Into Magazine Publishing, under a nom de plume.
Book link:
Website link: nyeditorialservices.com
http://www.nyeditorialservices.com/writingsamples/bmscoverimage.html
