Harriet Vaughan - Spring 2002
A silhouette of grace and dignity, Harriet Vaughan is a native of Nashville, Tenn. Coming from the country music capital where stars are born everyday, Harriet has had stars in her eyes since she was a little girl. It all started with a sixth grade assignment when Harriet found out the power of the pen and the truth of the spoken word.
Harriet’s sixth grade teacher, Mrs. Murdock, told her class to create a poem book for homework. When Mrs. Murdock received Harriet’s book, she was very impressed. Since that assignment, Harriet competed in several creative writing contests. The she figured, if I can write poems and speeches, then I could read them in public as well. So, she joined the National Forensics team in seventh grade and continued competing in high school.
One day, Harriet went to a forensics competition, and her life was changed forever. Her school’s team was short one student that day, so her teacher signed her up for the TV News competition. Harriet had to write four news stories in 10 minutes and present them to a panel of four judges as if she were putting on a real newscast. She won first place in the competition. Harriet has been competing in the news world ever since.
She was the Features reporter and Features Editor for her high school newspaper for three years. She was also the Editor-in-chief of a student newspaper that was a special weekly edition of a local newspaper. In Harriet’s senior year of high school, she decided to answer her calling and enter Hampton University as Broadcast Journalism major.
During Harriet’s time at H.U., she has worked for the H.U. View, the school news show. She has worked as an anchor, reporter, and producer. Harriet has also sparked a flame in her schools journalism department. She is the Hostess and Creator/Executive Producer of H.U.’s first-ever news talk show, Sound Off. The show is designed to discuss current news events with panelist and an audience as they relate to the college-aged student. The show creates a dialogue about issues within society in order that people may better understand what is going on. The show also brings out the emotional side of news.
None of this would be possible without experience. Since high school, Harriet has participated in six internship programs. She is currently a student intern with the Scripps Howard News Service in Washington, D.C., until the end of May. In June, she will head to Baltimore, Md., to do her second internship for the summer for the National Association of Black Journalists at WMAR News.
After Harriet graduates next year, she plans to work as a reporter or a producer in television news. Because TV news is so competitive, Harriet often reflects upon the words of one of her idols, Oprah Winfrey. “If I always look over my shoulder to see who’s running up behind me, then I’ll lose my place in the race.”
***