March 6th,
8:00 AM Friday morning: The day began rather awkwardly. I couldn't
find the coffee house where I was supposed to meet my “mentor”.
When I found it, I couldn't find a place to park. When I found a
place to park, I had to fumble around in my glove compartment to find
enough nickels and dimes to pay for said parking, which, was over a
block away from said coffee house. Later, once arrived at said coffee
house and seated at the table of adults, of whom I was very aware
were superior to me, I reached for a cup of coffee that,
unfortunately enough for my incredibly nervous self, actually
belonged to the woman sitting next to me. Also, I accidentally
started talking at the same time as someone else. I thought I was
doomed, yet, that Friday, March 6th, turned out to be one
of the coolest days, like, ever.
That Friday, I had
a job shadow of sorts, with an unconventional, conversation hosting,
startup enthusiast and journalist named Sarah, who writes for a blog
that I'm starting to write for. I asked if I could “shadow” her,
simply so I could figure out how the hell to be a “journalist”.
Up until last week,
I thought I would never identify as a journalist, but now, I see that
in some way, everyone is a journalist. What really struck me from
that day, was that real, quality journalism, is about genuinely
caring about the people and stories you are covering. I think
everyone has the ability to do that.
The writing part of
it though, is what I thought I wouldn't like. I always saw
journalistic writing as rigid and dull. As a creative writer, I saw
journalism as a cage. But I'm a bit like a drug addict when it comes
to writing: I take it any way I can get it. Writing for this
journalistic blog was, initially, a way to get words out in the world
in a new and challenging way, but now, I can honestly saw I love it.
That Friday, I
learned that journalism is not about telling facts. It is not about
reporting the news. It is not about rigid interviews with the school
board. Journalism is about taking an experience, a person, a moment,
a conversation, and reassembling it into a clear, concise article,
that translates what you saw or heard or felt into and article, so
that others can see and hear and feel, and be brought together by
that story. That's why genuinely caring about a story is what makes
it brilliant.
So yes, I was a bit
awkward. I didn't know how to be a journalist, and I wasn't even sure
I could be one, but I learned something valuable: caring equals
quality. In everything you do, giving a shit sure makes a difference.
Whether it's in your relationships, your school work, or your job,
caring about what you're doing impacts the quality of your project,
and makes the effort you put in seem more valuable.
The photo and the hilarious story behind it that has almost nothing to do with this post.
No comments:
Post a Comment