Jamie Klein
In high school, Jamie Klein was involved in everything from theater to soccer to a school improvement committee. When she took a test to see which careers might be a good fit for her, she couldn’t finish in time because she checked off so many boxes.
She ultimately applied to the University of Nebraska in Lincoln as a pre-law criminal justice major, but when her parents came home with brochures from the university’s journalism department, she was intrigued and changed her major.
Klein went on to work for the student newspaper and interned at several papers, including The San Antonio Express-News, where she realized that through journalism, she could really do anything.
“I realized this is where I belong, in a newsroom,” she said. “I realized that this is what I wanted.”
Klein usually claims San Antonio as her home, but as a self-identified “military brat” — her father was a master sergeant in the Air Force — she has lived many places, including Florida and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
“Being part of an Air Force family, you come to realize home is where your family is,” she said.
Her experience of constantly moving has made her a better journalist, Klein said. She adapts and reacts well to change, and most of all, she has developed a love of talking to people.
Her newest address is a college town, where there’s one question she still hasn’t found the answer to.
“What’s a cornhusker?” she said, referring to her university’s mascot. “I still don’t really know.”
A version of this article appeared in print on page 13 of the Tucson 2010 edition of The New York Times Student Journalism Institute.