How journalism wrote my life a brand new story

Have you ever found that one thing that you just know you want to do? Something that makes life seem to sparkle or make it clearer? Maybe you’ve finally found something to which you can add your personal touch? That’s what journalism is to me. I found it and suddenly I have a perfect outlet for my emotions. I honestly will say that I want to do this for the rest of my life, or as long as someone is willing to let me write.
My favorite story is probably the first one I wrote for journalism. I like to look back at what I wrote then and compare it to my new stuff to see how far I’ve grown. My first story was about Cara Mund, a former Miss America who was running for Congress. I managed to get in contact with her (thanks to former Representative Ruth Buffalo of the North Dakota House). Soon enough, with her interview, I had a second story to write! As someone who will be able to vote soon, I wanted to see what candidates actually stood for. Thanks to Mund, I achieved that.
I’ve had success before with my writing. In 9th grade, I wrote a poem and had the random thought to submit it to a poetry contest. Months later I heard back, while it wasn’t anywhere near first place, it did get published. Now I also get to add my journalism experience to my resume.
This December I got a weird letter in the mail saying I was invited to this conference. At first, I thought it was a scam, as I’ve gotten those in the past, but it turned out to be a big deal! So now I will be going to Washington D.C. this July for George Mason’s journalism conference! I’m really excited and thankful to join 300 students chosen from across the nation at the conference.
While I don’t remember why I decided to join journalism, I definitely am glad I did. I love doing interviews even though it makes me nervous. The worst part about journalism is starting the articles, it can be unbelievably frustrating. But the best part is definitely getting the paper and delivering it. I love seeing all the reactions, big or small, to the paper.
We have a lot of fun in this class, from making new friends based on our enjoyment of journalism to inside jokes or getting into arguments about the importance of pop culture, like knowing who Selena Gomez is. (How can you not know who Selena Gomez is?!) Or the fact that I write so much about the royal family or Taylor Swift. Another bonus about journalism is that it has even improved my writing in my English classes. I sometimes use what I’ve written in Journalism as inspiration for my English assignments. The deadlines of journalism mixed with my procrastination have definitely helped show myself I need to get stuff done on time.
One time last fall, I chatted with fellow journalism member, Susannah Schwantes, and we both agreed that it felt like something we could do for the future. And it’s true, journalism is the only major I’m now considering for college. I’ve even got a few colleges narrowed down.
I like to tell people a story with my writing whether that’s by entertainment, informing them, or giving my opinion. And I can do that with this class. I’m so thankful for this class! This class, Mrs. Livingston, and my classmates have truly impacted my life and taught me so much. I can’t wait to continue and see what the future holds.