On Nov. 18, 2015, I had my very first article published with The Pacer. This article that you’re reading is my 100th.
Since I came onto staff in 2015, I have worked 20+ hours every week, drank 15+ cups of coffee every week and put my heart and soul into my journalism career. Now, I don’t know that that journalism career is still the goal for me.
And I’m OK with that.
UTM has given me incredible opportunities. I came here six years ago, for the month of June 2014, and knew that this was going to be my home soon. I fell in love with the educators I had and the ways they encouraged me to grow. I remember after my first full week of governor’s school, approaching a professor while bawling my eyes out. I told him I wasn’t cut out for college and I got in because of a mistake.
I didn’t feel like I fit in and I wasn’t making friends and I wasn’t ready for college.
I was wrong.
That summer I learned that to make friends I had to step out of my comfort zone and that it was okay to ask questions in the classroom. So I did that for the next five years as I finished high school and journeyed through college.
If you’ve ever had a class with me, or if you’re a professor and you’ve had me in the classroom, I probably owe you an apology.
I talk a lot. In ways that aren’t always relevant, but they seem important to me. So here comes my first piece of advice.
If you’re a young student, ignore the people who hate you when you talk in class. Remember that you are spending a lot of money to be here and at many universities you wouldn’t have the opportunity to engage directly with your professors. Here, you have that opportunity, and for the most part, they want to hear you.
Ask questions, go to office hours, begin class discussions, be willing to be that student. It’s OK. You’ll survive any embarrassment. I promise. You might even build a relationship with your faculty members that lasts.
If you’ve ever been to a Pacer meeting or written for me, you probably know that I care a lot about the way stories are told. So here’s advice piece number two, and yes, I know these weren’t asked for, but here we are.
Find something you’re passionate about and don’t you dare let anyone quash it. If you’re excited about bats, write about and research bats. If you like business, read Forbes and don’t let people tell you that’s weird. And if you have a passion for telling others’ stories, you ask your questions and invest in those people and don’t let anyone put you down.
The light that you shine is something that God has given you and He’s got big plans. But you have to give Him the opportunity to shine through you.
If you’ve ever asked me for homework help, or seen me present, you know I’m a perfectionist. I regret it.
Piece of advice number three: Have grace with yourself. Forgive yourself. If you really messed up on that first geology test, don’t give up. Hit some office hours, join a study group, let yourself move forward, but forgive yourself. Losing your flawless GPA doesn’t have to put you in a tail spin.
If you’ve ever talked to me for more than five minutes you know I have love. I have love for my fiancé, my professors, my university, the turtles and the world around me.
I love to argue, I love to tell stories, I love to write and I love to grow. Because of that, I think I’ve decided that maybe journalism isn’t what I want.
And I’ve had to give myself grace for that. I’ve had to forgive myself for writing 100 stories and deciding that maybe this isn’t what I want. But I have and maybe I don’t.
You see I’m getting married right after graduation, and then only God knows what I’m doing.
Maybe it’s time to go to law school. Maybe it’s not. But what I know is that I love every story I’ve written and read.
I love every writer I’ve worked with. I love every editor I’ve had the privilege to work under and every staff I’ve worked alongside. I’ve loved every assignment, even the challenging ones, yes geology department, I’m talking to you.
I’ve loved all of these things because they’ve made me who I am and they’ve shown me more about who God is and how He sees me.
So as I pack up my things from The Pacer office and I pack up my rental house and I pack up my Kia Soul and head back to Middle Tennessee, I’ll take a lot more than a portfolio full of 100 stories to Nashville. I’ll take a love and pride for UTM. I’ll take memories that will never die. I’ll take skills.
So I thought about ending this with something cheesey, but in my true fashion, I’ll end it with a joke, because at least then we can laugh uncomfortably, right?
You guys let me write insane headlines, and you paid me to do it, and that was really cool, so thanks. Also … I believe in the turtles, and you should too, so recycle. Please.
