Each year at its national convention, NLGJA hosts Connect, a program that brings student journalists from across the country to the convention city for a week of mentoring, training and professional development. Working with a group of mentors — a team of journalists from across media platforms — each of this year’s 12 students will work on their resumés, interview with recruiters and journalists, and get a taste of what it’s like to work in a converged media newsroom.

Students are working on stories about a variety of topics, including NLGJA’s convention and news from our host city. Expect to see them blogging and live tweeting from selected sessions throughout the event.

CONNECT Student Participants

Nicholas Cimarusti, Columbia University
Varad Diwate, Iowa State University
Thomas Jones, Oklahoma State University
Kaitlyn Klein, University of Kansas
Jordan Lalata, San Francisco State University
Spencer Macnaughton, Columbia University
David Ok, Columbia University
Raji Ramanathan, University of California, Berkeley
Austin Rutland, Western Kentucky University
Linda Sankat, Meredith College
Rob Smith, Columbia University
Jaden Urbi, Iowa State University

If you’re “Coming Home” for the National Convention & LGBT Media Summit, please introduce yourself to the student journalists and expand your network and theirs.

Follow students of Connect live at www.nlgjaconnect.org.