Journalism or Letras, that’s the question...

by Letícia Cardoso and Lidiana de Moraes

You cannot compare things you do not know, have not tasted or experienced. Thinking about that we decided to make a comparison between two things present in our lives: Journalism and Letras.
What de they have in common? Well, in both colleges you work with the use of words. If you do not like numbers, these courses may be your future, especially if you love to write and read. The personality of their students matches in some aspects also. If you are a shy, private, silent, loner person you may not fit in those areas because they are about communication skills and dealing with people.
But not everything is the same. You can start noticing the differences between the two courses by analyzing again the behavior of their students. In Journalism, the competition is tougher, there is going to be many people who will look at you not as a human being but as a rival. That does not happen as often with the Letras student. Even the most dedicated ones see their fellows as classmates.
The style of the classes is not the same also. Letras is more theoretical, with more classes restricted to the classroom space. Journalism is more about practice, you are not stuck inside the college, you must go out and chase de information in other places outside the University. Maybe that is why some people have the wrong idea that the Journalism students just have fun and do not work.
Another difference we noticed was the profile of the teachers. In some journalistic areas, such as TV and Online, we have really young teachers. In Letras you can see that the teachers are more experienced. That’s probably because the subjects related to Letras need years of study, and the best professionals are the ones with more years in the field. Journalism is not like that because a subject such as Online involves modern technology of information, which is a new matter of study.
So, can we choose which course we like the most? Of course not. We are feeling almost like Hamlet, but our doubt is more like: Journalism or Letras, that’s the question…