Jessica Guerrucci stands out as the only student who won all three Southern Journalism Department awards in her senior year, when she graduated in 2020, a semester early, with a B.A. in journalism. She received the journalist of year awards for Southern News and Crescent magazine, as well as the Robin Marshall Glassman Outstanding Journalism Graduate award. Guerrucci is now a digital marketing and content associate for Two Roads Brewing Co., where she produces social media and web stories. She also has her own food blog on Instagram called @eatsleepfoodCT, which has thousands of followers.
Why journalism?
I always loved to write. In high school, I took a creative writing class and loved it. I took it all four years as an elective. We also had a school magazine that I was heavily involved in. I didn’t really fully understand what journalism was coming in, but I knew I wanted to write. And I ended up really loving it.
What do you do for Two Roads?
My role now is a little bit different than traditional journalism. I handle everything from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, LinkedIn. I manage all of those channels, every comment, every post that comes out of there. I do all the content creation, from photography to video. I’m also part of the marketing team, so any marketing initiatives, brand initiatives, I work with my team on too. I find myself applying a lot of what I learned at Southern in my current role. Social media is constantly changing, so sometimes you have to be ready to do something on the fly.
Is there a journalism professor you feel brought the most out of you?
Professor Cindy Simoneau defintely pushed me hard and never allowed me to get lazy. Sometimes it might feel like she’s really hard on you, but it’s only because she cares and wants you to be the best you can be. She let me be editor-in-chief of both Southern News and Crescent magazine, which is something she wouldn’t let anyone else do but trusted me to do it. She also helped me with graduating early.
How did you get involved while at Southern?
I was editor-in-chief of the Southern News, editor-in-chief of Crescent magazine. I was involved in the Society of Professional Journalists, I was president.
So, I did it all. I would do everything from news to features, long-form stories with Crescent, being the editor, you have to do what is needed. The experience you gain from those extracurriculur activities, and in the classes where you’re out interviewing people and getting to video, edit and write stories, you have so much hands-on experience.
It’s really been amazing, and that has translated so much into what I do now.
I made the most of my time here. Basically, I worked my butt off.