Ofstad finds life challenging, fun

Published: January 30, 2006

School of Journalism alumni have found jobs all over the world, careers that build on their journalism studies. This series by Suzannah Evans asked some of those alumni to reflect on their careers.

Mette K Ofstad, M.A. '88

Hometown: Krager‚àö‚àè, Norway (a small seaside town in southern Norway)

Current residence: Bl‚àö‚Ä¢veisdalen 17, 3770 Krager‚àö‚àè, Norway

Job:
Coordinator in the school administration on the municipality level, planning in-service training for the teachers in our municipality. Also I am the webmaster of the municipality's home page on the Web and lots of other interesting, creative things. I also translate books in my spare time, that is U.S. books of educational psychology into Norwegian (great fun). I am now into my third book.

Describe your typical workday:
Insane - so much to do, but mostly great fun and challenging. Travel, participating in seminars, meetings, planning seminars and excursions, having presentations for other people, writing news stories on our Web site. Very varied.

Is this where you imagined you'd end up?
No, much more challenging and fun than I expected.

What's your proudest professional moment so far?
Having finished my degree in Bloomington, I was a stringer for Newsweek International for awhile while teaching AND freelancing regularly in a county paper on the side at the same time. Never noticed that I worked 18 hours a day because it was so interesting. Had a couple of stories for Newsweek, which was great I thought (the Oslo deal with Israel as one example).

What's your favorite memory of Bloomington or IU?
The stories I wrote for the indiana Daily Student among others and the connections I thus had with the School of Music. The Icelandic students of Voice gave me a lot of interesting musical experiences.

Tell us something about where you live that we don't know.
Well, I live in one very picturesque little town in Norway. It could easily be characterized as the Norwegian Riviera. It is so different from Bloomington. I think you would love it.

Are you a graduate living and working overseas? The School of Journalism would like to hear from you as well. Contact Suzannah Evans (sudevans@indiana.edu) to fill out a short survey and let your classmates know about your exotic home and work.

Return to main story, Alumni find careers in far-flung places.