In fall, 2013, Carrie Snurr was a first-time student at Carroll Community College. She was a General Studies major, focusing on journalism classes. Today she is studying multi-platform journalism at the University of Maryland. She is a staff writer for the Diamondback, one of several campus publications. She is also working for Capital News Service (CNS), a news organization/wire service that is coordinated through the University.

The 2016 Carroll graduate was also the SGO reporter for The-Quill student newspaper while studying at Carroll. Snurr covered college events in addition to weekly SGO meetings. During her second year at Carroll, she was editor-in-chief of The-Quill.

Perhaps the proudest moment for this accomplished student of journalism was when an article she wrote was picked-up by the Associated Press (AP) wire service. The article subsequently appeared in The Washington Post.

“The article I wrote was about a Maryland Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee hearing,” said Snurr. “As a student at the University of Maryland, I am based in Annapolis covering crime and justice for CNS. I covered a bill which would allow for the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration to regulate self-driving cars with the state police and another bill which would extend Maryland Hate Crime laws to include police officers.”

“The Capital News Service works with AP,” said Snurr. “Articles we publish may be picked-up by news organizations all over the country if they are submitted by the AP’s deadline. This specific Washington Post article was the first I have written for CNS. My story was one of those that has been picked-up all over the country.”

“I was really excited when I saw that the article was published in the Washington Post,” she said. “The article also appeared in the Chicago Tribune and the Baltimore Sun, in addition to several other publications. Once I saw it was in the Washington Post, I immediately sent it to my parents. It is a rush having your name in print. At the same time, you know that you have to keep working, and then move on to the next article. Most recently, I was covering protests at the Presidential Inauguration and I needed to focus my attention on that.”

Snurr credits Carroll with where she is today because when starting college, she did not know what she wanted to study. Eventually, she was able to narrow down her academic interest. Attending Carroll also allowed her to save money towards the tuition at a four-year school.

“My time at The-Quill and my classes with Dr. Michelle Parke are the reasons I am where I am today,” said Snurr. “I honestly don’t think I would be at the University of Maryland, writing for the Diamondback and Capital News Service, if I did not have the experiences I did while attending Carroll. Dr. Parke’s classes and her guidance while I was editor-in-chief are keys to how well I performed at Carroll. Dr. Parke pointed me to journalism conferences in New York and Philadelphia. She also put a lot of time into helping me navigate negotiations when I was working with the college administration to reform The-Quill into an independent organization.”

“Carrie was an excellent student in the classroom,” said Dr. Parke, who is assistant professor of English at Carroll. “She was also a skilled reporter and a wonderful leader for The-Quill. It’s not a surprise that she is already making a significant mark as a journalism student at College Park, both at the Diamondback and CNS. Carrie has an exciting future ahead of her in the field, and I look forward to continuing to read her outstanding work.”



Carrie Snurr, Carroll graduate and published journalist.

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