As an eighth grader, I remember sitting in homeroom, along with my classmates as we were guided along the steps of four year planning for high school. This was a stressful, yet intruiging experience as a soon to be high schooler. Excited to finally be “graduated” from middle school, and have a fresh start with new teachers and schedule changes, but the “what-ifs” sat in the back of my mind as I filed through all of the potential classes I could take. ‘What if I pick the wrong class? What if I can’t keep up?’ I remember seeing the option “DMACC News Journalism” on the long list of options for schedule planning. I knew I loved to write, so this class really sparked my attention.  I immediately read the word “DMACC” and my interest in the class quickly turned into fear. DMACC is college courses, and I was just a middle schooler, so no way was I going to put that on my schedule. Freshmen typically weren’t enrolled in the class anyway, so I pushed it to the back of my mind because all I was worried about was the year ahead of me, freshman year.

I went about freshman year with all of the courses I had chosen as an eighth grader. It was nearing four-year planning again, and this year I had one goal I wanted to accomplish: get on the News staff. My brother, a senior, had his first year of News that year. He had been recommended to take that class by a teacher, and he ended up loving it. In typical sibling fashion, he told me all about the class, as he knew how badly I wanted to be in it. Whether he was telling me all of this to brag, or to inform me is 50/50.  I put it on my schedule for my upcoming sophomore year, in hopes that there would be room for me and I would also get to experience the fun my brother had.

Now, as a sophomore reflecting on my first year on the News Staff, one thing (among the thousands) that I have learned is that news never happens inside of the news room. This was something Mrs. Basinger would remind us each month as we did story planning for the month ahead. Branching out and trying new things was quite literally a requirement for this class, rightfully so. There were times we would plan for stories, and an idea would grab my attention because I knew a lot about the topic. I learned that that was not the mindset to have diving into the next month of story writing. The stories we as reporters were writing, were not about ourselves, or our staff and what we knew. News doesn’t happen inside of the news room. 

Throughout the year, I covered stories about FFA, energy drinks, basketball, volleyball–all things I didn’t have much background about before covering them. News doesn’t happen inside of the news room, so I got out of my comfort zone to get my stories published. If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have learned anything new about the things going on around me. I can’t say that I know every in and out about FFA, or energy drinks, but I know more than I did just by interviews and story publishing. News is informing people about things they may not know, and not only were we as a staff informing our viewers and readers, but also ourselves as we go. Getting out of the classroom was where the news was all around us. In the hallways, in the gym, at sporting events, at restaurants, anywhere. The behind the scenes work however, was also what made the year so great. It was inside the news room that I created new relationships, shared laughs with everyone, and learned lessons that will stay with me forever.