Jared Mitovich is a Pascack Hills alumni from the class of 2021. He is currently a junior at the University of Pennsylvania pursuing a degree in communications with minors in data science and consumer psychology.
Mitovich was very involved with journalism all throughout high school, having been exposed to T.V. journalism and media early on through his father. He enjoyed writing, specifically English class, and was Editor-in-Chief of the Trailblazer during his senior year. Currently, he serves as News Editor for The Daily Pennsylvanian.
“It just feels like something you can really be proud of, a product you can really dedicate yourself to. It’s low pressure but high pressure in the sense that it’s not a class, but it also has stakes, it has an impact. And those are all things that I valued in one way or another…but it’s an ongoing thing, the interest is always changing. Every new experience I have just introduces me to another part of it,” he said.
During his first two years of college, Mitovich covered school news and administration-related issues. Over the summer, he also gained experience with business journalism, specifically through a Yahoo Finance internship. He wrote daily articles about tech, finance, and the job market.
Thanks for having me on to talk about rent inflation and the Chartbook @YahooFinance! https://t.co/968uRdWmMy pic.twitter.com/43wTmHZbHg
— Jared Mitovich (@jmitovich) August 10, 2023
“I was just looking for a summer internship and this was the opportunity that came by. And I thought, it’s something that I love, which is journalism. It’s at a tech company, I’m also passionate about data science and a little bit of the tech stuff, and then it was also something new,” he said.
On Aug. 8, Mitovich posted his internship project on Twitter. He spoke with 50 top voices on Wall Street to tell the story about today’s economy and published his findings in an article. He also appeared live on Yahoo Finance to discuss rent inflation and the Chartbook.
“It ultimately came together really nicely and I was super fortunate to be on that project. It goes back to the point I made earlier, I was able to learn a lot about all these scary words and terms while also just gaining experience in a new field. It was super special,” he said.
Mitovich discussed some of the biggest challenges he’s faced while in college.
“Definitely in college, I think the biggest thing for me in terms of challenges is not letting yourself be pigeonholed,” he said, “I actually went in with a computer science double major and that did not fully turn out right. I didn’t let myself be pigeonholed into whatever I thought I was entering college with. I didn’t let myself become the computer science kid only, or the communications kid only. I just had to force myself not to be pressured into one area or the other and just let my interests guide me.”
Mitovich also spoke on his upcoming and post-grad plans.
“That’s the scary question, right? There are so many opportunities that college provides, and so many different schools and majors and programs. I want to let myself be exposed to that,” he said.
“So that’s all to say, definitely journalism is where my passion is, but I can see that evolving into something maybe on the business side of media, doing strategic work or analytics work with the data science minor. So just letting that evolve a little bit and see where it goes. But definitely something that is public-facing, high impact, where [I’m] doing something [I’m] passionate about but it serves an end to a means, it helps people with a challenge they’re facing,” he said.
Mitovich talked about several teachers at Hills who inspired him to pursue a path in communications and data science, including Deborah Horn, Jay Uhl, Vani Apanosian, and Alexandra Pfleging.
“I’m really grateful to have had so many supportive teachers in high school. I’m definitely missing some, but those are really special people to me still because they really helped shape my interests,” he said.
In his free time, Mitovich is involved with several clubs at the University of Pennsylvania. He is part of Penn Leads the Vote, a student-led, non-partisan group that shares information and registers student voters. He also enjoys hiking and is an active member of the Outdoors Club.
Mitovich shared some final advice for current Hills students about navigating high school.
“Try as many things as you can. I guess that applies in high school, but in college as well. Just get involved with things beyond classes…So much of the satisfaction I’ve derived from college so far has been from what I’ve done outside of class. Get involved in something, even if it’s outside of your comfort zone, even if it’s an internship that’s not directly in a career field that you’re pursuing for the long term. You never know how that will help you,” he said.
