Profile of Professor Lynda McDonnell
Hiking on the Ice Age Trail near her cabin in western Wisconsin, Lynda McDonnell enjoys the exploration and slow pace that hiking provides.
"It′s a pace you can talk at," she says.
But the rest of McDonnell′s life isn′t always slow-paced. This 55-year-old, south Minneapolis resident came to Minnesota from Kansas City, Mo., to study the often fast-paced, deadline-driven field of journalism at the University of Minnesota.
Drawn to the variety and intellectual challenges of journalism, McDonnell enjoys asking questions and learning about the world around her, then sharing her knowledge with others.
McDonnell is currently sharing her wisdom as a journalism instructor at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul. She also directs the Urban Journalism Workshop, a non-profit program that works with high school students who are interested in journalism.
She loves teaching and working with young people, but says she misses the deadlines of the newsroom, which are "the world′s best way to make sure you get something finished."
Her passion for writing isn′t limited to journalism; McDonnell also writes short fiction and essays, which allows her to put more of herself into her work.
Describing herself as "a sober idealist who believe that an individual can make a difference in this world" even though "sometimes it′s damn hard to see," she loves that journalism allows her to tell the stories of people who don′t always have a voice and influence public perceptions and private lives.