Adventure Six: The Role of Journalism

I always think about why I chose to study journalism. I think about the mentors I’ve had, the support I’ve received from friends and family, what I want to do with my life once I have my diploma, the driving forces behind my decision. The optimist dreamer in me chose this major because of my desire to do good in the world, to tell the untold stories of so many lives. It’s not about leaving my own personal branded mark; it’s about making a difference.

When we watched a video in class from a Ted Talks conference, journalist Janine di Giovanni talked about what her role was as a journalist when it comes to making a difference. “I am diluting myself if I think as a journalist, as a reporter, as a writer, what I do can stop them. I can’t…All I am is a witness. My role is to bring a voice to people who are voiceless.”

I was incredibly unsettled upon my first digestion of these words of hers. I based my entire decision-making process upon my desire to help people, to change things, to make a difference. I felt saddened and discouraged, second guessing whether or not I made the right decision of what I plan to do for the rest of my life and my intentions behind it.

I ran through the quote again in my mind, trying to find some way to spin is so my dreams weren't entirely crushed. I though about her last sentence: "My role is to bring a voice to people who are voiceless." I came to realize that while I personally may not have the power to stop wars, combat worldwide starvation, end the war on drugs, all the issues and events that plague the globe, I do have the resources to draw a significant amount of attention to them. Hopefully this way, someone who is more qualified to execute these actions will become aware of what is going on and put great effort toward making a difference.

Adventure Five: Definition of Success

Since my early years of education, teachers and other outside influences have preached the importance of receiving an education. You'll be a much more well rounded candidate for anything you aspire to do, insuring a life of much more success. I followed their instructions blindly, knowing that trusting the system and trusting those who have my best interest in mind wouldn't possibly lead me astray.

As my academic career developed and everyone chose their own path, the material became more sophisticated, the projects became more challenging, it was a whole new ball game. It's a whole new competitive world where people are constantly comparing your performance relative to theirs. People brag about their accomplishments and often come off as arrogant, but I think this is just a defense mechanism to combat the judgement and competitiveness with self-assurance.

I started thinking back to the emphasis put on the quest for success. It was so heavy and came from all angles. It was carved into our brains and served as the motivation for everything we were to do.

But what defines success?

What I've realized is that there simply isn't be one concrete, universal definition of success with which people abide by and recognize. Even moreso, there cannot be just one definition. There are far too many professions, talents, skills, fields, specialties, that make it impossible to throw such a generalized umbrella term across it all.

And hell, let's not get so technical about it.

We are people. Every person is different. Every story is different. Every reason for being is different. How can you measure success this way? That's why it's our job to define it for ourselves- not in the sense that we disregard all other definitions of success, but that we use those definitions to tailor it to fit our own.

Adventure Four: On Covering Traumatic Events

This semester, I'm taking a class about how to cover traumatic events in the media. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I figured it would be a good idea to familiarize myself with how to cover a topic that seems to be appearing more and more frequently in the news.

We started reading various stories from people who had personally experience a traumatic event in their lifetime. We're learning how people respond to certain situations and why, coping mechanisms, how to overcome what has happened and what resilience means. We're often asked to reflect on the diverse ways people handled certain circumstances and discuss how we think we would have responded to the same situation. 

We also explore what it means not only to be a victim of these unfortunate events, but also what it means to be the one talking to sources, getting pictures from the scene, watching these stories unfold right before their very own eyes. Journalists are people with feelings too -- we can only professionally numb ourselves to such a degree until we start feeling the impact of the work we do, the things we cover. 

A special guest made an appearance in our class this week -- a photojournalist by the name of Adrees Latif. He talked about his background, his work experience, the stories he's covered, and he even gave us a taste of the work he's done (I strongly encourage everyone to look into his work.) Someone asked him how he copes with the dark stories and events he's covered, what his tips and tricks were for detaching from a wave of emotions. His response: he finds meaning.

My ears perked up immediately when he said this. Everyone's heard variations of that saying, "There's a reason for everything," or "There's meaning for everything that happens" you get the gist. I've adapted this mindset over the years as a coping mechanism to deal with and interpret what goes on around me. I tell myself there's a reason this is happening, there's a meaning to it all, even if I know what that exactly means yet, or even if I don't necessarily believe myself.

The approach Latif took to this really resonated with me. He was genuine about it, and didn't say it just as a cliche. You could tell that he truly believes there is meaning behind the work he does, the stories he captures, why he shares them. I often worry about the feelings people have about me when I tell them I'm studying journalism because of the rep journalists get for being desensitized from emotion. I've personally heard people critique the entire field by saying it's just a business to us and there is little regard for the impact these stories have on the people they affect. 

I worry that I'll turn into that kind of person, and that's not why I chose to study journalism. It was comforting to hear someone else in the field say that there's meaning behind what we do, and it's important that we do it. I'm still trying to prepare myself for what it would be like to report on a traumatic event, but I feel much more confident after hearing stories from someone of such high esteem saying this work is important and that there's value to it. I'm looking forward to learning more about how it's done and becoming a more well-rounded journalist because of it.

Adventure Three: Remembering Self-Care

Although we're still in the early weeks of this semester, I've noticed myself always feeling like I'm on deadline. Yes, as a journalism major this is expected, but this feeling has extended to other parts of my life. Deadlines are part of life; getting homework in on time, completing tasks for employers, getting payments in on time, filling out applications, getting birthday presents for friends before stores close. It almost seems like there just aren't enough hours in the day to complete all these tasks.

And with all this going on, who has time to eat and sleep properly? Certainly not your average college student it seems.

As the baby of the family, I have always been spoiled (well, sometimes "spoiled" doesn't seem like the right word...) with having my parents and siblings check on me an almost an every day basis. How was your day? How'd your test go? Did you get enough sleep last night? Have you eaten yet today? When was the last time you washed that hair? OKAY OKAY ENOUGH.

I ignore their non-so-subtle advice and carrY on as I normally would, trying to balance school and organizations and relationships per the usual. Staying up until 2 or 3am and waking up around 7am has become a normalcy. And I promise you- it's not because I'm saving my work until after I catch up on the newest episode of my show or wasting time scrolling through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram feeds. I wake up, go to class, do work and research, make phone calls and work on homework during any spare moment I have, come home some time between 11pm and 2am that evening/morning (depending on how long my motivation to stay at the J-School or Ellis held out) shower, continue working, and start the process all over again. I got so used to this robotic schedule I had going and everything seemed to be getting done when and how it was supposed to, or so I thought.

I started getting grades back on previously completed assignments and exams and thinking "...What the?? Where did THIS grade come from? I worked my tail off!" I grew more and more frustrated with the feedback I was receiving, and began to realize that the problem wasn't the feedback- it was me.

I had (have) this one professor who, upon grading a video project of mine, left the following feedback that has stuck with me ever since: "You worked hard, but you didn't work smart." I honestly never realized there was a difference and this resonated with me for the remainder of the semester.

The realization that a change had to be made in my attitude and work ethic helped my academic performance a bit, I cannot deny that. The biggest factor, though, was that I could still tell that my performance was not up to par with the expectations of my professors and the standard I normally hold myself to. I took a step back to pull a typical "me" move and analyze each aspect of my life that could have been contributing to my less than acceptable quality of work. I started to think about the interrogation I was put through by my family and friends and asked myself those same questions: Did I get enough sleep last night? Have I eaten yet today? When was the last time I showered? (Hey don't judge.) It didn't take long for me to realize these elements were affecting me and my performance much more than I had been giving credit.

My awareness of these realizations encouraged me to take time, make time to better myself in these problem areas. I made more of an effort to squeeze in solid meals or pack a snack for the day, which gave me more energy to power through the day. I tried to "work smart", to utilize and manage my time more efficiently than I had been before. And, as expected, improving these elements created a domino affect and affected each other: if I made sure to eat something throughout the day, I was fueling my body and my brain, which made it easier to power through my work and I was able to get to sleep at a more reasonable time.

It's hard to break behavioral patterns and habits that have stuck with you for awhile, so it took conscious effort to make these changes. But after realizing what an impact these efforts were having on my academic performance and my mental, physical and emotional state overall, I finally understood how important it is to take care of myself so I can perform at the level I know I'm capable of.