Sean Hibbard: Experience is Key

Sean Hibbard is an Ada, Oklahoma home native and a 2010 graduate of Gaylord College. He is 23 years old and currently resides in Norman, Oklahoma.

Right out of high school, Hibbard knew that he wanted to go to college for journalism and he knew that he wanted to go to a school that had a good program. After carefully selecting from different choices, Hibbard chose OU because he heard and decided that Gaylord College of Journal and Mass Communication would be the very best place for him to obtain an education.

Hibbard enjoyed his time at Gaylord, in particular the Practicum’s. “It is really important for students to have hands on experience, because in our field, there is only so much you can learn from books and lectures.” He indicated that the experience provided while in Gaylord college was what best equipped him to become a journalist and the Practicum’s did just that; they allowed him to exercise his journalistic muscles rather than just reading about them through a text book.

Hibbard got an internship the last semester of his senior year and he strongly recommends the same to current Gaylord students. “My internship helped me out a lot, especially on my resume.” According to Hibbard, in the media industry, having hands on experience is key. “It is hard to go out into the real world without any experience in your field, so having that helps.” He urges students to take advantage of all the tools provided in the college, to use them to their best ability because these are the things that make journalism students stand out; the tools provided at Gaylord will get you hired.

What’s next for Hibbard? His immediate goals are to find out what is out there and what is available job wise, “I want to make sure I find something that fits into what I want to do, even if I just find something that is a small part of what I want to do, I will do it because hopefully that will lead to my dream job.” Hibbard doesn’t intend to settle for anything less than that.