New blog to cover newsmakers, student life at colleges

This blog is about the thousands of ambitious student leaders, journalists, activists and newsmakers at colleges.

There's no easy way to jump into blogging, and it's definitely not as simple as posting this welcome note. To start a blog is to start a conversation, to introduce people to one another.

So, I will go first.

My name is Jenna Johnson, and I write about student life and culture for The Washington Post. That has meant figuring out why a Georgetown University student thinks he needs a personal assistant, discussing Rembrandt with art dealers, friending lots of students on Facebook and watching a "Glee"-style Yale admissions video. Needless to say, it's often a lot of fun.

Not long ago, I was a student at the University of Nebraska, where I spent most of my waking hours at the Daily Nebraskan student newspaper. I had four newspaper internships, starting at a small paper in rural Nebraska that printed Bible passages on its editorial page and ending at The Post, where I have been since.

This blog is my next adventure, and I'm excited. I hope that you bookmark it, visit often, share posts you enjoy with your friends and -- most important -- tell me what you want to read.

In the meantime, here's a little bit of what to expect:

-- News overload: A daily roundup of the most interesting stories from campuses across the country.

-- D.C. internships: Everything you need to know about getting an internship, moving to the city and not being "that intern."

-- Student government: The latest on campus elections, students responding creatively to budget cuts, student leader scandals and advice on whether to date a fellow senator.

-- Campus media: College newspapers, magazines, radio stations, TV shows and blogs are the ultimate source on what's happening, but stop here to learn the stories behind the stories.

-- Admissions: The trends in testing, applying, getting in, financing and deciding -- whether you are a high school senior applying for the first time or trying to get into the law school of your dreams.

-- Networking: How to best use Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Wikipedia and the like to further your college career (while keeping those pics from last weekend out of circulation).

-- Real world: Yes, you love the warm bubble of college life, but there is an afterward, and this blog will help make the transition less scary.

-- Night life: This is, above all, a blog for college students, so there will be intense coverage of beer pong.