Though she eventually "got lucky" instructor Alexandra Kay pounded the pavement when she was breaking in. Having NYU J-school contacts helped get her an interview for her first full-time gig on the staff of ABC's World News Tonight, but she had been doing the leg work for many months before.

The same tenacity got Alex her first clip at her local paper. "I basically showed up at the door and asked them to give me assignments," she said. Having been pitched to as an editor at Woman's World, and having pitched loads of articles as a freelancer, she thinks it's important to be "persistent but not obnoxious." Now she tells us.

Alex is also an experienced teacher who wants to see her students make tangible progress toward their goals. "I hope that those who want to be writers learn that it's actually possible to make a living writing."

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