Clinton School graduate Jeerawat Na Thalang (’11) has returned to her home in Bangkok, Thailand, where she has been writing for a daily newspaper since June.
A career journalist, Na Thalang reports that her Clinton School experience has helped shape the way she sees and reports the news.
“Although I came back to my old job, I can say that I am a better editorial writer than before,” she said recently in an email. “The school has given me a better perspective. For instance, the Clinton School gave me the awareness of the community, something that I hardly mentioned before in my writing.”
In addition to her writing, Na Thalang is working as a lecturer in the Journalism and Mass Communication Department at Thammasat University, of the top universities in Thailand. She teaches an editorial and article writing course for third-year undergraduate students. She said she is basing some of her classes on the education she received at the Clinton School.
“I tried to engage the students through discussion and group work. I plan to discuss with the students the communication ethics that I’ve learned from Leadership/Law Ethics Class,” she said.
Na Thalang utilized her journalism skills during her Clinton School public service projects. She partnered with the Arkansas Coalition for Excellence to design a media strategy guide for nonprofit organizations in Arkansas for her final Capstone project.
She completed her international project in Kathmandu, Nepal, where she helped determine the appropriate curriculum and content for literacy development training programs for an educational development initiative.