Smith '09 column in today's Washington Post

Thank you, Scot, for sending this! And congratulations to Krista. We're proud.

Scot Walker '90 of Texas Aggie magazine writes:

Krista Smith ’09 is an A&M comm student and a student writer and reporter here at Texas Aggie magazine. She has a column in today’s Washington Post: (link)

Smith writes about her hometown of Orange and its struggles with hurricanes Katrina and Ike. The article appeared in the column of John Kelly - one of the Spring 2009 Journalists in Residence at A&M - and is introduced thusly:

Vicissitudes of Life in Small Texas Town Are More Than Just Good Column Fodder

By John Kelly

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

I spent last week at Texas A&M University, mentoring 22 journalism students in the basics of my job. Their assignment: to write a column. As an incentive, I told them I'd publish my favorite in The Post.

Many of their columns exhibited similar preoccupations: relationships, technology, anxiety over their futures (most don't have jobs yet). One column stood out. Krista Smith is a 22-year-old graduating senior from a southeast Texas town that, as you'll see, has had its share of woe.

Speaking of woe: A lot of us worry about the future of journalism. Students such as Krista make me worry a little bit less.