When I first found out I was chosen for this program I was overcome with mixed feelings; extreme excitement, and perhaps even a sense of pride were first. Fear and apprehension came after. Would I have what it takes to produce good content that serves my subject and audience, or that lives up to the standard of an NPR reporter?<\/p>\n
Up until that point, I had only covered three hard news stories for Nicholson Student Media, the University of Central Florida\u2019s student-run news outlet. I had never worked with audio equipment or software, so it felt like my lack of confidence was duly justified. <\/p>\n
The program also came during college finals, arguably the most intense and stressful week of the school year, and it came only four weeks after I was injured in a deadly crash. I was mentally exhausted and expected the program to be stressful. When I entered, I thought I could not wait to get through it and be done, before it had even started. <\/p>\n
Yet the week flew by and I found myself loving every single second of it. As I am watching it all wrap up now, I am struggling to let it go. It is hard to accept that I will not be headed back here to the WMFE station next Monday morning to continue working with this incredible team. <\/p>\n
The things I have learned since we started are too many to list, but a few stand out. I learned a world about recording, pulling and mixing audio. I also learned to capture and caption good photos that help tell a story. Most importantly perhaps, I learned to collaborate with a great team in a real newsroom environment. <\/p>\n
Working with my mentor and our editors taught me to take a step back and listen, even when I feel strongly about my work. Their experience and wisdom have done nothing but help make my work shine. I don\u2019t know if every single Next Generation Radio team is like this one, but I feel honored to have had the opportunity to succeed along with this bunch. I could not have asked for a better, more supportive news team.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, this program changed the way I want to approach my journalism career. I had originally planned to focus on print and only applied to this program to learn and expand my r\u00e9sum\u00e9. I never thought I was made for radio or broadcast yet, now that we are done, I have a hard time picturing myself doing anything else moving forward. I feel like I could do this all day.<\/p>\n
This program showed me just how far my potential can go and inspired me to do more. My subject taught me much about myself and it was a pleasure to listen to his story. <\/p>\n
Moreover, I consider it a privilege to help him tell it. I hope it gives him a voice and impacts our community to help propel positive change. <\/p>\n
After this week, I feel like a journalist. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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