As a Temple University student, Jayna Alexandra Schaffer, KLN ‘20 (professionally known as Jayna Alexandra) was enamored with the university’s media programs and opportunities. However, she knew that she eventually wanted to venture into an even larger media market than Philadelphia: New York City. Her dream will come true in the fall when she joins Columbia University’s rigorous nine-and-a-half-month master of science in journalism graduate program. She believes that Klein College of Media and Communication gave her a secure foundation to build the skills she will need at Columbia.
Schaffer, a lifelong writer, storyteller and Philadelphian, knew that Temple was a great fit for her undergraduate education in journalism when she visited as a high school student. George Miller, currently the associate dean for academic affairs at Temple’s Japan campus and an alumnus of Columbia’s graduate journalism program, allowed her to sit in on one of his journalism classes and introduced her to media opportunities at the university while he still taught at Klein.
When Schaffer arrived, she dove in immediately. On her first day at the university, she got involved with The Temple News, the university’s independent student newspaper, by attending a meeting for the opinions column. She subsequently became an opinions columnist, and was appointed opinions editor by her sophomore year. SHe also worked with Temple University Television (TUTV) throughout her time at Klein, and by her junior year, she was a weather anchor and reporter on the weekly news show Temple Update.
“I pretty much just tried to get my feet wet in everything possible, just because I loved it all, I wanted to try everything out. And I knew I loved to write but I wanted to try my multimedia skills and things like that,” says Schaffer.
This attitude also extended to Schaffer’s academic and professional endeavors. She found that several of her classes at Klein College profoundly impacted her growth as a journalist, like Broadcast Performance. Outside of her schoolwork, she held several journalism internships around Philadelphia, including PHL17 and FOX 29. Eventually, she landed a staff position as a production assistant at NBC10, and works to this day. All of these experiences gave her the preparation and confidence to apply to Columbia, one of the most prestigious journalism universities in the country.
Larry Stains, assistant chair and associate professor of practice in the Department of Journalism, was one of Schaffer’s instructors during her freshman year. Stains is a self-identified “fan” of Schaffer’s journalism work and wrote several recommendation letters for her, including one for Columbia. As another alumnus of Columbia’s graduate journalism school, he knew that she was applying to the best program for her talents.
“Students usually decide, ‘Well I’m either going to do writing or I’m going to do broadcast,’” says Stains. “But Jayna has excelled in both.”
Not surprisingly, Schaffer plans to continue her track record of excellence when she relocates to New York City. Although she has already taken the equivalent of many of Columbia’s graduate program courses at Temple, she is looking forward to Columbia’s unique offerings, including a core reporting class and a book writing course she will have to apply to take. In the future, she hopes that she can continue her run as a broadcast multimedia journalist but also wants to leave room to explore her options.
“I know that I’m gonna be in classes with established journalists and people who have a lot more experience than me because a lot of them aren’t fresh out of school,” she says. “But I really do feel confident in the work that I’ve done with The Temple News and with Temple Update and in my classes; I know I can hold up to that standard.”