InFocus introduced me to the beautiful world of journalism, showing me how vast its opportunities are, how rewarding the process can be, and what it truly means to be a skilled reporter.
In the past, journalism has felt strictly educational for me. I would go to class, learn for 90 minutes, write a story and leave. It wasn’t until my junior year, and the broadcast publication I am currently apart or enrolled in, that my passion and desire to pursue journalism further was confirmed. Before, I always saw journalism as a one-dimensional field. It was just a writing subject that I had to fit a certain criteria for. I had to write about the news, or, let's face it, mediocre school events that just never sparked my interest. Being in a broadcast class has let me explore my own interests while creating a product that I can share with others to allow them to feel how I did while making it. The creative freedom I have to express myself has allowed me to craft digital stories I feel a genuine connection to. The turning point in my journalism career was a recent story package I created on the rise of women's hockey. I had the chance to interview Kristin O’Niell, a player from both Team Canada and the PWHL, which, as a huge hockey fan, was an incredible experience. This was my first experience that showed me how limitless journalism is and the world it can open up for you.
The adversity I faced this semester differed from my challenges in the first semester, but my approach to resolving conflict remained the same. This term, I struggled with the technical side of producing packages. I often found myself frustrated with Premiere Pro, primarily because I hadn’t yet learned the proper storage for files. However, just as I did in the first semester, I turned to my peers for guidance. Collaborating with my groupmates and other classmates allowed me to grow immensely, not only with Premiere Pro but also in my overall problem-solving skills. This taught me the valuable lesson of asking for help, alongside the very practical technical lesson of how to avoid losing entire project packages!
Through this experience, I have developed both hard and soft skills that I now apply to everyday life. On the technical side, I strengthened my abilities in editing, filming, and scriptwriting. I now apply these skills to producing our “Mini Mic Mondays with Maiya and Mateo” segment on Instagram. On the soft skills side, I made a conscious effort this semester to improve my time management to ensure I consistently met deadlines. The development of this skill is something I now apply not only to my other courses, but to almost every aspect of my life.
Beyond my class contributions to InFocus, such as my packages and morning announcements, I also looked for outside ways to help develop our publication. Attending the JEA trip to Nashville allowed me to dive even deeper into the profession and absorb as much knowledge as possible. I view journalism as a team sport; by striving to perfect my individual craft, I become a stronger collaborator. When one of us succeeds, the entire team succeeds. Additionally, I assisted in managing our social media presence by co-hosting Mini Mic Mondays. Introducing this extra segment to our digital platforms successfully engaged a wider audience, got more students involved with InFocus, and kept our content evolving and exciting.
For a more personal reflection, being in InFocus sparked a passion inside of me that I wasn’t aware of before. I fell in love with broadcast this year. Pushing past my preconceived notions of what broadcast was, I was able to see all of the different careers I could pursue within broadcast and journalism. This year was extremely pivotal in helping me figure out what I want to pursue in the future, and it gave me all of the freedom I needed to do so. I am grateful for my time spent in InFocus this year, and I am extremely excited for what's to come next year.