Currently working at the Fairfax County Times as an education reporter, Hobbs’ interest in journalism is partially credited to her mother, a high school journalism teacher.

“At my high school, programs like the student newspaper and electives like journalism were under-enrolled, meaning they could be cut from course offerings,” Hobbs said. “My mom needed to meet a certain quota, maybe 12 students or so, to be able to offer journalism. As a result, I was recruited.”

At first, Hobbs wanted to be a music or arts and entertainment reporter but an elective she took in college compelled her to go in a different direction.

“My junior year of college I took this elective called Capital News Services,” Hobbs said. “I absolutely loved that class, spent as much time as I could watching and writing about the state legislators and their antics. When I graduated and was looking for jobs in journalism, I didn’t even bother to look for arts and entertainment jobs.”

Before moving on to the Fairfax County Times, Hobbs worked at the Loudoun Times-Mirror for two and a half years. At the time, it was the largest weekly in Virginia.

Now, she is the education reporter at Fairfax County Times and has been for about four years. Throughout her career, she has received multiple awards for her contribution to writing.

There is no typical workday for Hobbs. Some days she doesn’t have much to do but there have also been times where she has worked about 75 hours a week.

During her career, Hobbs has written a couple of fascinating stories but there is one that is very special to her.

“A few years back, I received an email from a Boy Scout troop leader saying one of his scouts was about to be deported,” Hobbs said. “The mother was here legally with a work Visa but her son had come illegally. The mother wanted her son to stay in the U.S. because of the opportunities here.

“After I published the story, the Boy Scout troop leader sent a copy of the story to Sen. Jim Webb (D-Virginia)’s office. He was able to stop the deportation process and as far as I know the boy still lives in Loudoun County. I think this was one of the first times I felt like something I covered made a difference, changed an outcome. That’s a pivotal moment for any reporter.”

Hobbs strongly believes that newspapers will not survive much longer but print journalism talent will always exist.

She advises those on the path to journalism to not become a reporter solely because of a passion for writing.

“Reporters move at such a fast pace that there is no room to be shy, and I don’t mean shy as in outgoing,” Hobbs said. “In an eight-hour day, about seven hours are spent on reporting and maybe one is spent on the writing. Go into reporting because you want to know why.”

To read one of Hobbs’ recent stories go to: http://www.fairfaxtimes.com/article/20130221/NEWS/130229568/0/fairfaxTimes&template=fairfaxTimes