Welcome to the real world—morning meetings, long hours, tight deadlines. Each semester 10-12 students trade their flexible college lifestyles for an unforgettable experience.

NewsLink Indiana is a classic example of immersive learning at Ball State. The student-run professional news operation allows students to participate in the daily operations of a real-life newsroom. During the full-credit, semester-long experience, students handle all the production duties—reporting, shooting, directing, editing—for live newscasts that air on the local PBS station and NPR affiliate and are posted on the Web.

“NewsLink Indiana immersion is invaluable,” says telecommunications major Scott Swim, ‘06. “You learn so much because you have to—because it’s your job, 9 to 5, for a whole semester.”

For telecommunications major Kaitlin DeLaCruz, '08, NewsLink was also an eye-opening experience.

“I went into immersion wanting to be a reporter,” says DeLaCruz. “But after working for NewsLink, I discovered my real passion—producing.”

And NewsLink is no secret. News directors across the country are well aware that these students do the news on a day-to-day basis and are solid performers. As a result, participants start out in larger television markets than they would if they hadn’t been involved with NewsLink.