When I first stepped into Room 103, I had no idea that that single action would open a door to the rest of my life. The decision to join the NOISE News staff was fairly easy to me, I already liked video editing and it seemed like a good class for me to try out for my freshman year. At any time, you can find me editing a story, writing a script, or putting together a web story. I would not have been as involved in my school and made the connections that I have now without NOISE News and journalism.
It wasn’t always easy for me, however. Even though I had picked up on most basic skills that you need to be a journalist, I felt out of place. Interviews were hard, especially as a new freshman in an early post COVID-19 lockdown year. Meeting people and making friends was something that was difficult for me to do. I couldn’t easily strike up conversations with people, especially those older than me. I was anxious about doing something wrong or to have the older kids in class look down on me for a mistake. I never even touched a camera until the end of the school year because of the online learning schedule and my nervousness. But, despite my fears of being looked down upon, the older kids were a big help and a great inspiration. After I picked up a camera for the first time, there was no going back. I fell in love with journalism.
The start of sophomore year brought new changes. We had almost a whole new staff of journalists, which brought new opportunities and new challenges. With everyone being in-person learners, we were able to meet face-to-face every day and make bonds that we previously couldn’t. I went into my second year on NOISE News with a new personal goal, I was going to achieve a letter. To be able to meet the requirements to be able to letter, I had to do various things to show my skills, such as meet the team’s needs, cover events outside of a school day, and submit a story to a contest. I worked hard over the course of my sophomore year. I volunteered myself to help others finish a story and offered advice to people who were just starting out. Being able to have more experience than someone and offer them advice based on that previous experience was something that made me feel accomplished.
Pursuing journalism in real life was something that, up until mid-sophomore year, I hadn’t considered. Being in a journalism class with hands-on experiences led me to realize that I would love to do this as a future career. I realized that I would have many choices with a journalism degree, and that I would be able to have a variety of career options. I could see myself being a news reporter in a busy newsroom, working on a film set, investigating crimes in a big city as an investigative journalist, or being an entertainment journalist and interviewing celebrities on red carpets. The possibilities are endless. As of now, I’m hoping to end up in the film industry and however, while nothing is for certain, I know for sure that my time with NOISE News and journalism will have made a big influence on my future.
Looking back now on my past goals and actions in the newsroom as a senior, I feel fulfilled. I know that my time here has made not only an impact on myself, but the others around me as well. Now that I am one of the "older kids," I find myself thinking of them a lot, and I hope that I am living up to being the role model that they were for me when I was a freshman. The feeling of knowing that I'm passing down even a fraction of what I know now to the nervous freshmen who are just starting out makes me happy and excited for what is to come for them. If someone had told me as a shy, nervous freshman that I would be a confident producer in just four years, I wouldn’t have believed them. But now, as that confident producer, I will forever be grateful to journalism for giving me the confidence that I would most certainly not have without it.
It wasn’t always easy for me, however. Even though I had picked up on most basic skills that you need to be a journalist, I felt out of place. Interviews were hard, especially as a new freshman in an early post COVID-19 lockdown year. Meeting people and making friends was something that was difficult for me to do. I couldn’t easily strike up conversations with people, especially those older than me. I was anxious about doing something wrong or to have the older kids in class look down on me for a mistake. I never even touched a camera until the end of the school year because of the online learning schedule and my nervousness. But, despite my fears of being looked down upon, the older kids were a big help and a great inspiration. After I picked up a camera for the first time, there was no going back. I fell in love with journalism.
The start of sophomore year brought new changes. We had almost a whole new staff of journalists, which brought new opportunities and new challenges. With everyone being in-person learners, we were able to meet face-to-face every day and make bonds that we previously couldn’t. I went into my second year on NOISE News with a new personal goal, I was going to achieve a letter. To be able to meet the requirements to be able to letter, I had to do various things to show my skills, such as meet the team’s needs, cover events outside of a school day, and submit a story to a contest. I worked hard over the course of my sophomore year. I volunteered myself to help others finish a story and offered advice to people who were just starting out. Being able to have more experience than someone and offer them advice based on that previous experience was something that made me feel accomplished.
Pursuing journalism in real life was something that, up until mid-sophomore year, I hadn’t considered. Being in a journalism class with hands-on experiences led me to realize that I would love to do this as a future career. I realized that I would have many choices with a journalism degree, and that I would be able to have a variety of career options. I could see myself being a news reporter in a busy newsroom, working on a film set, investigating crimes in a big city as an investigative journalist, or being an entertainment journalist and interviewing celebrities on red carpets. The possibilities are endless. As of now, I’m hoping to end up in the film industry and however, while nothing is for certain, I know for sure that my time with NOISE News and journalism will have made a big influence on my future.
Looking back now on my past goals and actions in the newsroom as a senior, I feel fulfilled. I know that my time here has made not only an impact on myself, but the others around me as well. Now that I am one of the "older kids," I find myself thinking of them a lot, and I hope that I am living up to being the role model that they were for me when I was a freshman. The feeling of knowing that I'm passing down even a fraction of what I know now to the nervous freshmen who are just starting out makes me happy and excited for what is to come for them. If someone had told me as a shy, nervous freshman that I would be a confident producer in just four years, I wouldn’t have believed them. But now, as that confident producer, I will forever be grateful to journalism for giving me the confidence that I would most certainly not have without it.
Photos from the St. Louis JEA Convention in November 2022