Jacob Kramer is currently a junior at the University of Southern California (USC) double majoring in Broadcast Journalism and Political Science. His passion for stortelling, contemporary events, and civic engagement stretches back to his early days participating in Speech & Debate tournaments, where he won a number of national-circuit awards across the country. To this day, Jacob strives to make positive tangible changes to the world around him through the visual medium of stories.
Other than keeping his head glued to the books, Jacob enjoys travelling, watching and playing basketball, shooting videos and pictures, and exploring the finest cultural cuisines the world has to offer!
Prior to coming to USC, Jacob had lived his entire life in Arlington, Texas, a relatively large city sandwiched directly in between Dallas and Fort Worth. Though his father had been deployed in the military across the globe his entire life, Jacob and his mother were fortunate enough to have been able to remain in the same house for all of his pre-college years.
Jacob went to Larson Elementary from Kindergarten to 6th grade. Afterwards, he moved to Summit International Preparatory, where he attended middle school and high school, eventually graduating alongside 36 other students as a part of the Class of 2014.
Summit International changed the perspective that Jacob had on college and education in general. There, the teachers and other faculty members pushed each of their students to achieve more than what they believed they could, and they instilled in them a thirst for knowledge and success.
In high school, Jacob was involved with a number of clubs, including National Forensics, Speech & Debate, Texas Boys State, Student Government, and a handful of community service organization. Though his parents moved to Houston, Texas after he graduated, Jacob still comes back to his original hometown of Arlington at least once a year to revisit old friends and family.
Jacob made the decision to attend USC's Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism after his Scholarship Explore Interview in 2014. During his interview, Jacob met other prospective Annenberg students and staff members who were driven, inspiring, and impassioned about both the field journalism and the potential of communication. These factors heavily influenced him to spend the next four years of his life in Los Angeles, California.
During his freshman year, Jacob jumped right into the swing of things by becoming as involved on campus as he could. Jacob joined Annenberg TV News, where he served as an MJ for his first two years, Teach for Los Angeles, later serving as the Director of Public Relations and Multimedia, and even joined Greek life with the Sigma Nu Epsilon Omicron Chapter at his school.
Later in the year, he joined the Annenberg faculty behind the scenes as an Admissions Office Intern and as an Annenberg Ambassador. To this day, Jacob actively helps plan central events for the Annenberg school and is a student liaison between prospective Annenberg students and the larger Annenberg community.
Aside from the incredible experience he has had at USC, Jacob has had just as good a time with his endeavors outside of school. After his freshman year, Jacob secured an internship with KVUE, the ABC-affiliate for Austin, Texas. While there, he shadowed every division of the station, including sports, breaking news, investigative news, and production, and this opportunity allowed him to get his feet wet in the industry as he learned the basics of what it took to be a modern-day journalist.
This most recent summer, too, Jacob spent his weeks working, this time at NBC Nightly News in Los Angeles, California, during what was one of the most eventful summers of his life. In his summer tenure at NBC, Jacob was able to contribute to stories such as the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, the 2016 Presidential election, and even sporting events such as the summer Olympics. Nightly News is where Jacob gained first-hand insight to a major professional network, and his career ambitions have been influenced to one day join a similar company.
This fall semester, Jacob is taking the most exciting classes to date. Now that he has gotten the introductory courses out of the way, he has built a schedule that has allowed him to focus on what he really loves: multimedia platforms and politics - which he hopes will help him better improve his craft of storytelling and help him inch closer to his life goals.
To keep up with Jacob, follow him on Twitter and Instagram!
@Initjacoba
Jacobk@usc.edu