Jackie Koszczuk and Joseph Sobczyk became sweethearts between deadlines and administration meetings in their college newsroom in the late 70s.

Their love of writing and of one another bloomed after graduating from SIUC, and both are now successful journalists in Washington, D.C. They are married and have a 2-year-old daughter.

As part of the celebration of the School of Journalism’s 50-year anniversary, distinguished guests are speaking to SIUC students about how to be successful in their field of study.

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Koszczuk graduated from SIUC in 1980 with a degree in journalism. She worked at the Daily Egyptian for more than two years and said the learning experience was invaluable.

Bill Harmon (the former managing editor for the Daily Egyptian) was a journalistic inspiration, she said. He was a serious editor and treated the DE like a professional newspaper. Our purpose was to service readers and get it right.

Koszczuk took that experience with her and worked at several professional newspapers after graduating.

I went to work at the Kankakee Daily Journal for a year and then at the Daily Herald in Arlington Heights, she said. I always wanted to work for a big paper, so in 1986 I went to work for the Fort Worth Star Telegram (in Texas) as a general assignments reporter.

Koszczuk covered the 1988 presidential campaign, and when the ex-speaker of the house Jim Wright was involved in an ethics scandal in 1989, she was one of four people from the Fort Worth Star Telegram that covered the story.

In 1994 Koszczuk went to work at the Congressional Quarterly, where she covered congress. She is now an editor.

And while Koszczuk moved up the ladder of success, her Daily Egyptian sweetheart was making leaps and bounds in his career as well.

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After graduating from SIUC in 1980, Sobczyk found a job at the Lawrenceville Daily Record. He then went to work at the Arlington Heights Daily Herald.

With more than three years at the Herald under his belt, Sobczyk was recruited to work at the Dallas Times Herald as an editor.

When the paper was sold, Sobczyk went to work as the assistant news editor at the Washington Post. He is now the paper’s night metro editor.

Sobczyk said he never imagined that his career in journalism would be so successful.

I think that my biggest flaw upon graduation was having dreams too small, he said. I thought maybe I’d go to the (Chicago) Tribune. It didn’t seem my world at the time.

Sobczyk said the key to having a successful journalism career is to have a passion for the work.

That’s the key to success in most fields, but particularly in journalism, he said.

We both have ready-made editors at our disposal 24 hours a day, Koszczuk said. Overall, it has been helpful to have someone who knows the crazy hours.

Throughout their careers, the couple has only been separated once because of their jobs.

Although there are perks of living with a journalist, there are also setbacks.

It is very helpful in terms of understanding each other, but it’s not always easy when looking for a job, Sobczyk said. It’s not easy to be a couple in journalism and find good jobs.

Koszczuk said the key to her success has been her persistence, aggression and good work, and Sobczyk said that successful journalists have to truly be passionate about their work and think big.

And through it all, they have the strong support of each other that started on deadline.