Today, Laura Ling is scheduled to speak at Pruis Hall about her time held captive in North Korea by the dictator Kim-Jong Il when she was doing research near the China-North Korea border.
"With everything that she has experienced in her life, this is a great way for students to get a glimpse of great leadership points for everyday life," said Mitch Isaacs, associate director of Student Life and an overseer for Ball State's Excellence in Leadership program.
He said Ling is not only a good choice for leadership because of her work as a field journalist, but also the diversity she can bring to the students with her ideas and background from her compelling story being a prisoner in a dictatorship.
Ling will also talk about life experiences working for E! Entertainment Network, ABC News and CNN.
"I think when it comes to part of her life being captured by a dictatorship nation and being forced to work against her will, her stories of leadership and hope will give the students a chance to see what it takes to become a great leader for people," Isaacs said.
Isaacs also said this is a program for students who want to become great leaders and learn about working abroad.
"This is a great event for students in the telecommunications and journalism fields to attend because of her enormous work going into hot spot areas in the world such as Sri Lanka and Myanmar," he said.
Students around campus seem to have already taken a key interest to Ling and her stories of imprisonment. Andy Wright, freshmen journalism and telecommunications major, said he is attending the event not only to fill a requirement for a class, but also because he has found interest in what it takes to get a great story in the world of journalism and bring it to audiences at home like Ling has done.
"I know that she was imprisoned, but I really am interested to hear what her life was like during that time, and how she managed to cope with it all," Wright said.
Wright said since Ling is a television journalist it would be most interesting to hear what her time in hostile territory was like and the terror factor of possibly never seeing her family again.
"It might be interesting to hear her take on taking risks in journalism because she was imprisoned," Wright said. "So how far should journalists be willing to go especially in a political hot zone like North Korea and doing some journalistic investigative work."
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