When I was young, I was a big fan of Superman. I didn’t pay much attention to his partner, Lois Lane. I knew that she existed, but did not care much for more details. After all, who could stand up to some wacked up superhuman who could destroy things in the blink of an eye? Nevertheless, she was the first reporter I ever knew about.
Then I got older. I learned about Nellie Bly — the reporter who uncovered the horrific conditions in a mental asylum by acting insane and getting committed to it. What a badass. I learned about Upton Sinclair, the muckraker journalist who wrote “The Jungle,” a novel that uncovered the truth about the exploited immigrant workers in meatpacking factories and helped bring about federal laws that led to US food safety reforms. I learned about Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the dynamic journalistic duo who exposed the Watergate scandal and brought down a president. All of them were incredible and the epitome of everything a journalist could be. I felt inspired by everything they did and decided I wanted to try being a reporter.
The most fulfilling and important thing you could do, I learned, was write the small stories. I started out writing the usual stuff like arts articles about new movies and school clubs. I may not have been able to write those incredible, groundbreaking stories, but I learned I could write about the individual, unique stories of students at WCHS. This, I think, was the most rewarding: the small stories.
People are fascinating. Everyone has a story to tell that no one knows about. I loved hearing about people’s stories; people I never would have talked to if I hadn’t been taking journalism. Although I wrote only a few of these articles and interspersed them with more general stories, they were the most rewarding ones I ever wrote.
The stories I wrote about ranged from a high school author, to a senior pilot-in-training and a pageant queen, to a sailing team, to a student who interns at a farm, and, finally, to the previous Press Secretary of Golda Meir, Israel’s fourth prime minister. Journalism, by its nature, is about connecting unlikely people, finding the truth and sharing people’s stories. This opens up your perspective and teaches you new things. Being a journalist lets you find these perspectives and share them with others.
Anyone passionate about creative writing or learning new things should try journalism. Journalism also helped me with my grammar and actually helped me improve my English essays and score highly on my ACT. Most importantly, it gives you a chance to learn new stories first hand.
I will not forget my time on The Churchill Observer staff. I learned a lot of new skills and met a lot of new people. To everyone out there, I hope you find your passion, or at least something that keeps you interested. Good luck.
