Last week, the Mustang Morning News staff traveled to San Antonio for the annual JEA/NSPA journalism convention. Among the array of seminars and keynotes I went to personally, the two most impactful presentations was led by former JEA president Jack Kennedy.

Jack Kennedy hosted two highly populated seminars entitled “The Convergent Beat System” and “Why Not Change the World.” Having gone to both, I can say that in those two hours I learned a lot about Jack’s personality.

He addressed the seminars with a non-chalant and carefree attitude, while teaching me a lot about journalism and life in general. In “Why not change the world” he addressed the importance of tackling risky topics in journalism. Because Jack was a former president of JEA, everything he said I took to hard, jotting down the most notes I could. Jack poked fun at current scandals in politics and even some scandals at our convention, adding to the lively vibe already in the presentation.

In the two day extensive convention, Jack Kennedy prominently stuck out to me as a speaker to remember. His confident and wise personality taught me to ultimately take as many risks as possible, and really think outside of the box!