By: Isabella Gutierrez

Going to high school in Ohio, I had no idea where MTSU was even located. My brother moved to Nashville during my junior year to pursue his music career. My family and I visited him every few months, and we quickly fell in love with the city, the music, and the atmosphere. Once I realized I wanted to move to Nashville for college, MTSU was love at first sight.

MTSU is affordable and is only around 45 minutes from Music City. The price and location were perfect, but once I saw the development of the majors, I truly knew this school was for me.

Pursuing a degree in journalism, it was hard to find colleges with forward-moving technology and equipment. I visited a few other schools, and their journalism departments felt very small. I wanted to find somewhere I could get hands-on experience and truly grow my love for storytelling. MTSU is the place to be.

The journalism program has a twice-weekly news broadcast, Middle Tennessee News, with a full newsroom and studio. The department also has a newspaper, Sidelines, and a radio station, WMTS. There are also student-run tv programs with Blue Raider Television, using a fully equipped production truck.

Once I visited MTSU, I was amazed by all of the programs in the John Bragg Media and Entertainment building.

The Animation department is beyond extraordinary; the Music Business department holds its record label, Match Records, and the recording studios for Audio Production majors are top-notch.

As a journalist, I have a passion for entertainment and lifestyle storytelling. MTSU has amazing programs, and the students are beyond talented and creative. Finding a community of creators to work on projects with and grow together is easy. I’ve loved interviewing and producing news stories on music artists, fashion designers, producers, models and directors.

Being so close to Nashville, it’s exciting to easily expand my love for journalism with other creators in the city and truly work in the music industry.

Once I committed to MTSU, not only were my expectations met, but they were exceeded. There are truly endless opportunities at MTSU to grow and learn. Some of my favorite experiences so far have been attending Bonnaroo to help run the university’s social media, taking photos of Jack Harlow during his concert last spring, and reporting on the red carpet for The Judds Love is Alive concert.

I’m beyond grateful for MTSU and love being #trueBLUE.

Author Isabella Gutierrez is a Journalism major in the College of Media and Entertainment.