shrinking in my seat

In our very first journalism class (History of News), Uncle Felix asked a pretty simple question:

"How many of you worked for your high school newspaper?"

I'm not usually the type of student to sit front and center in a class, but I thought I'd add some variety to my life that day. So there I was, being all chummy with the die-hard journalists when this question was suddenly thrown at me.

My fellow second-rowers (I wasn't bold enough to actually sit in the first row next to the TA's), of course, all raised their hands in response to Uncle Felix, a look of "duhh" on their faces.

I shamefully kept my hand down. That was definitely embarrassing, considering I was probably sitting next to all the former editor-in-chiefs.

I ended up at Annenberg by default. When it came time to choose which college I'd go to, I knew I didn't want to be an English major but I did like writing. So I thought, what the heck? Top-ranked program at a top-ranked school, why not go to USC?

But that was then, and this is now. I've gone from an embarrassingly-clueless-about-what-a-lead-even-is journalism student to one who actually enjoys doing interviews and putting packages together.

I'm still unsure of where I want to end up, but I do know that I want to be respected for my work. Journalism isn't glamorous and it's tough dealing with the kind of people you run into in the profession (politicians, police, mean man-on-the-street interviewees). But it's also extremely rewarding meeting the amazing people who have so much to share. Being able to tell their stories is what I want to do.

And I also just want to be able to raise my hand sometimes...