With a news studio in the heart of Boston, Suffolk is the only university in the city to have a partnership with NECN. Each semester, students compete for one of four spots to report on live television. Recently, four new student reporters were chosen and now is their time to shine.

This semester the student reporters are seniors Melissa Graham and Heidi Walsh, and juniors Peter Costanza and Daveson Perez. All four students are broadcast journalism majors.

The student reporters all showed an interest in journalism early on in their lives and were attracted to Suffolk because of its location and broadcast journalism program.

“I was always a big fan of writing,” said Graham. “I always thought it was very important to be up to date with the current news and it’s something that a lot of young kids maybe are not too focused on. A lot of time it is stuff that will really affect them and they don’t realize it.”

Her plans after graduation include applying to every news station she can find.

“I know getting on the air will probably be impossible here in Boston because Boston is the seventh biggest media market,” Graham said. “But I definitely want to get my foot in the door, whether it is writing, editing, or producing. I will try to work my way up so we will see.”

Walsh has been a part of SU News, Temple Street, and is currently the general manager of Suffolk Free Radio.

“I always wanted to be a reporter. I used to watch channel five all the time and watch Natalie Jacobson,” Walsh said. “One time during a first grade party the clown asked us what we wanted to be and I asked my mom ‘what does Natalie Jacobson do’? ‘She’s an anchor,’ she said. So, since then I have loved journalism.”

Moving on to the juniors, Peter Costanza is a busy guy. As well as being an RA in the Suffolk 10 West dorm, he is also involved in several performing arts office productions and is an alternative spring break leader.

“I could never have a job that is the same from nine to five, a desk job,” Costanza said. “Journalism allows me to go out in the world, I get to meet new people, my job changes daily, I tell stories. I love talking to people. It’s a great way to network and NECN has been wonderful. They have given us pointers and helped us so much. I am learning from professionals in the field right now so hopefully it will benefit me in the future.”

Perez is a member of the Suffolk sports talk show Clash of The Rams as well as a member of Suffolk’s finance committee and an orientation leader.

“I always had a very burning interest in sports,” Perez said. “I played a bunch of baseball through high school. I felt like I couldn’t compete in college and I wasn’t recruited or anything. I thought that if I could not be on the field as a player, then I might as well be reporting on sports because it is something that I love to do and something that I love to be a part of.”

After graduation, Perez hopes to get a job on-air with a smaller market.

There is no doubt that all four students are extremely excited to go live on air on NECN.

“I think this internship is going to help me so much. It is such a great opportunity and it is an experience you can’t really get anywhere else,” said Graham, who, like the other three student reporters, is grateful for landing the internship of a lifetime.