make your schoolwork work for you

If you're currently in J-school, it's a good idea to parlay as many of your assignments into published work as you can. As one NYU student writes on Media Bistro, journalists are "not journalists if they don't publish, if they don't engage with the world outside the classroom." Don't wait until you leave school to engage. Some instructors serve up assignments that require pitching your story to an existing publication, but even if yours doesn't, look for such an opportunity where you can. That way you'll at least get some experience pitching, and may even end up with a few clippings.