Before joining the News team, I was rather shy and awkward. While I had a few close friends, I would always walk through the halls unaware of many people that I passed daily. With my first year of journalism, I’ve become more observant and learned that every person around me, whether it be on the street or sidewalk, in the hallways or even sitting next to me in the classroom, has a story to tell, if only we try hard enough to find it.
As I began working on the staff, in a different setting with people I had rarely worked with before, I was immediately overwhelmed, confused, and even hesitant with everything I did. But as I began to edit, produce, and read stories, I adapted, and the members of the staff opened up. I was able to collaborate, communicate, and rely on the people around me. This dynamic, I saw, was also reversible. The people around me grew to trust that I had their best interests in mind as well. By working on the staff, I, too, began to open up. Rather than being shy and awkward, I could be more confident in my actions, learning, and growth as a student, journalist and person.
While doing the work helps boost the camaraderie and trust between members of the news team and allows me to become more sociable and confident in my character, I was also able to see the character of the people around me. Through Good News every morning, the staff shared their lives. While the goal was to be focused on the positive aspects of everyone’s week, the negatives were unavoidable. Despite these negatives, the optimism of the “good” news compared to the “bad” news was able to shine through. I learned about the people around me whom I had barely even noticed before, and learned that they were truly wonderful people. While I hate to admit it, I was just blind to the people around me.
This was an enlightening experience. To me, every person was either cheerful or miserable in a given moment. Instead, I realized that we only appeared that way. Deep down, if we look hard enough, we can find something that gives us hope and encouragement through life. That is the basis of many stories in journalism. Oftentimes, journalists will report on the stories that spark inspiration and change because there is always hope, no matter how difficult times may be.
This message isn’t only apparent in the staff of the news team. It’s evident in everyone. Throughout my time in journalism and my time writing and producing the Compact Corner Concert series, I have learned that every person has a talent and a spark to share with the world. I apply this same idea to the people wandering through the hallways. In this moment, they seem to be burdened by the monotony of school. They may seem unmotivated in their trek from class to class, but every person has something interesting about them that they need to share. It is the job of journalists to help them share not only their story, but a part of themselves with the world.
To me, journalism began as a class that I could get college credit for. I was hesitant and ignorant of the people who made up my day-to-day life. Now, with the help of serving as a member of the news team, I understand that everybody around me has a story they are dying to tell, whether they realize it or not. Even when my time in journalism is inevitably up, the appreciation of everyone around me will never end.
