Episode 51 -- Kayla Jimenez

Kayla Jimenez (2015-17) is an award-winning national correspondent for USA TODAY. She specializes in reporting on the American education system, including recent stories about the decline of school buses and if cell phones should be banned in schools. She formerly covered education for The Mercury News, East Bay Times and Voice of San Diego. In this week's "Where Ya At?" episode, Kayla details some of the classes at SDSU and stories at The Daily Aztec that helped her prepare for a Journalism career.Kayla details where she begins with a "trend" story, how to dig through data and blend it with interviews for the most compelling story. For an investigative story on students falling behind after Covid, she explains why she picked specific schools, how she was given permission to be inside classrooms, and gaining the trust of the students and teachers."Where Ya At?" is a podcast focused on the School of Journalism and Media Studies at San Diego State University. Each week, during the Fall and Spring semesters, host Josh Suchon (Class of 1996) interviews alumni to learn about their experiences as college students, entering the workforce, key steps in their professional development, advice they'd give to current students, and details about how they covered a specific story.