Rift Fournier

Our guest speaker for today was Rift Fournier, a professor here at Lindenwood University. Before entering the education field as a university professor, he traveled and worked in various parts of the world. He was a writer, a Hollywood writer to be precise. He wrote television programs and movies and along the way he met some very important people. His network probably grew thanks to his great personality and ability to relate to people.

Most importantly however, he said that he loved his work because he was passionate about it. He stuck with writing in the years where he made a great amount of money but also in the years where he made nothing. I believe I have that drive and desire for reading and writing, and essentially reporting.

I was struck by fear when he mentioned that we would change our major during our college years. I started dreaming of becoming a reporter when I was ten-years-old. During the next five years however, I forgot about that dream and focused on other fields: Law and Criminal Justice; Psychology and Philosophy; even Business and Administration. However, I realized that writing is what I love doing. I may not be the best writer, but I want to improve and use its art to relate to people.

He improved his writing and became more passionate about it during law school. It’s strange to think that law school would be more about writing than reading and researching, but then again they are siblings. This gave me an idea. I don’t need writing assignments or required writing to develop my writing skills. I just need a paper and pen…even though the modern world may dictate that writing is now only efficient on a computer.

His presence in class was amazing. He’s so real and charismatic. His easy-going nature is considerably reassuring to say the least. And he never spoke to us just as students. I’m looking forward to finding my “writing talent” in his Writing for Electronic Media class next semester. I might not write the next Hollywood movie, but I’m sure I’m going to receive much needed constructive criticism.