Student Recommendation J1100: Principles of American Journalism
Lily Zacharias, Entrepreneurial Journalism Student, University of Missouri School of Journalism
"Mimi Perreault was my professor for Principles of American Journalism in Spring 2014. After introducing herself to the class on the first day, I immediately knew I would enjoy being a student in her class. She presents herself in a professional way that immediately commands respect, and she evokes thoughtful discussion from her students.
In a class of well over 100 students, Mimi made a tremendous effort to learn each student's name, and she would remember comments student had made in previous classes so she could refer to them whenever similar topics would come up. You don’t typically see behavior like that from professors in lecture hall classes, but Mimi truly cares about her students and loves to interact and hear their opinions.
My favorite part of attending Mimi’s lectures was her incorporation of current events and captivating news stories into the lesson to make the concepts memorable and interesting. Mimi’s work at the Palm Beach Post was frequently brought up in lecture because her real world experience related to a number of topics we discussed. The subjects that are covered in Principles of American Journalism are sometimes a little dull, so she showed us videos or brought in speakers to accompany the material.
I once asked Mimi if she would meet with me to read over one of my papers for the class. She not only took the time to edit and suggest improvements, but we then sat for 30 minutes talking about her daughters, a French school in town and my interests in journalism. Before every test she offered multiple review sessions to answer questions and go over tough topics with students. It was at these review sessions that I really got to know Mimi and how she interacted in a small teaching environment. No question was insignificant, and she would spend as long as it took to completely explain the answer until we all understood.
At a university where most lecture hall professors couldn’t pick their students out of a lineup, Mimi went out of her way to get to know me academically and personally, and she made an impact on me as a freshman struggling to find her place in the journalism school in a way no other professor did. I wish I could take another course taught by Mimi, because her knowledge and teaching style continue to be unmatched. Any student at any university would be lucky to have as kind, intelligent, passionate and effective of a professor as Mimi Perreault."
