Joe Slemberger, Reporter

Joe Slemberger is a print journalism major from Great Falls, Mont.  Technically he is a junior in the professional program at the University of Montana’s School of Journalism, but he has a wealth of credits from time spent at Montana State University in Bozeman.
 
“I didn’t realize I enjoyed journalism so much until about two years ago,” he said. “I was preparing a lesson plan for a Health and Human Development course when I realized, “I really DO NOT want to be a gym teacher.”  Not that there’s anything wrong with gym teachers, he quickly adds. “I just figured, after nearly four years and thousand of dollars in student loans:  Teaching wasn’t my calling.”

Eventually, after consoling his intensely pro-Bobcat family, Slemberger decided to seek a degree in journalism at rival UM. “Missoula is home to one of the best J-schools in the nation,” he said. “I had to give it a try.”

Slemberger says he misses Bozeman and the Bobcats, “but I’m extremely impressed with the quality of education here at UM.  It’s a first-class institution with a first-class faculty.”

Slemberger hopes to become a freelance sports writer and an assistant football coach, but he has a fall back plan: “If all else fails I’d be happy spending my days fishing for trout on any of Montana’s rivers or lakes.”

back to J-school home page