Jill McSorley ’26 is Getting the Story Right
After starring on her high school field hockey team in Biddeford, Maine, Jill McSorley was drawn to Assumption to continue her athletic career—but the University’s strong writing programs are what sealed her decision.
“Athletics are only half of the experience, so I wanted to make sure the academics were a fit too. The option to do a writing minor with the communication and media major was a big piece of it—not every school has that. I knew that I could hone my writing and could go in different directions if I needed to,” says McSorley, who has also added a minor in marketing.
During her first year at the University, McSorley took a journalism course with Mike Land, the now-retired associate professor of English who helped shape Assumption writers for a quarter of a century.
“I remember him teaching us how to reach out to people and interview them—he was honest about how nerve-wracking it is,” she says. “But he taught us that as a writer, you’re not there to have them judge you, you’re there to learn about them. You’re there to get their story right. And that’s one of my favorite parts about journalism. I love talking to people, I love making new connections, meeting new people, learning about their interests, and getting to know their stories.”
And when it came time to pursue internships ahead of senior year, McSorley let her love of uncovering stories lead the way.
“One of the most important things I said when reaching out to local news outlets, was that I have an open mind. I want to see where the story takes me.”
The Worcester Business Journal, covering industry news for New England’s second largest city and all of Central Massachusetts—located just three miles from Assumption’s campus—offered McSorley a position as an intern. Two days a week, she went to the newsroom and worked with the team, developing her professional experience and connections.
“I loved being in that environment, getting a sense of what an office job looks like,” she says. “I was writing anything from press release-based articles to feature-length stories. And, since I’m from Maine, I didn’t know a lot about Worcester businesses when I started, so I learned while I wrote. It also helped me gain a community around me that can help me in the future.”
While interning, McSorley penned one article that stands out to her among the rest: a feature in the Journal’s Champions of Healthcare edition featuring Healthcare Innovator of the Year Tricia Scannell Laursen, who works as president and executive director of DetecTogether—a non-profit teaching people how to detect early signs of cancer.
“That was my favorite story because I was able to learn about her program and highlight that, but I also got to highlight her,” she says. “Interviewees really appreciate that—they want people to know more—especially when they work in the healthcare industry. She was absolutely wonderful, and I had a lot of fun talking to her.”
McSorley’s internship gave her the opportunity to apply coursework to professional work—and hear from others just how much they had read and appreciated her reporting.
“Seeing my name under the stories on the website was surreal,” she says. “You work so hard at your major, and I always dreamed of having my name out there under an article or a book or anything published. Seeing my first real article out there online was a really rewarding experience.
“As the internship went on, and I had maybe 17 or 18 articles published, professors would come up to me saying they saw my work, and they didn’t know I was working there. It was nice to see that the community recognized my work, and people that I knew were reading my stories,” she says.
With McSorley’s internship complete, she continues to freelance for the Journal, writing a 101 managerial advice column every other week. Her most recent article relates to something with which she has firsthand experience: how companies can best utilize interns.
After graduation, McSorley feels her options are limitless—communications is a broad field, and she doesn’t intend to close any doors before she begins her career search.
“I have an open mind to whatever catches my eye. I’m not closed off to any career in communications,” she says. “I definitely would go into journalism, even as a starting point, to see what it could grow into—writing for a news outlet again, or writing for a school. I’ll see where my story takes me.”