My name is Michael Thompson, and I’m a junior at New York University currently studying journalism and history. From a young age, I’ve been fascinated with the profession, and in my opinion, the art of journalism. It allows a curious mind like mine to learn about people and events in exciting and important ways. I grew up in Pemberton, a large township in southern New Jersey and a unique area with a diverse range of people. Even for all of its faults, living there was a blessing. Exposed to countless kinds of people, my curiosity and interest in recording stories only grew stronger as I was privy to a colorful collection of different perspectives. My love for journalism was cemented in high school after taking four years of television class and a year working for the school’s newspaper. Since coming to NYU I’ve had the good fortune of producing plenty of content. As a lifelong fan of sports, I served as the university’s Washington Square News sports editor in 2016, where I’ve written nearly 100 articles focusing on Violets athletics. In the summer, I interned at Scout, a sprawling sports network specializing in college recruiting, as an editorial intern. There, I met employees with valuable experience in the business, and was grateful to learn as much as I did in just a few short months. My work for the network ranged from coverage of college football to opinion pieces on boxing and mixed martial arts. I plan on continuing to pursue my passion as a journalist well past graduation and beyond.