It’s hard for me to say goodbye. No matter how many times I have to say it, goodbye never gets easier. Leaving the Clarion is no different.
I remember taking my first journalism class at Sinclair Community College. Sandy Hilt gently drilled free speech, free press and free democracy into each of her students’ heads class after class. She spoke quietly but quickly with passion and grace, and I couldn’t help but catch her enthusiasm.
Neither could some of my classmates. I remember one guy in the back of the class would come up with some of the craziest comments. I especially remember him talking about how Nadya Suleman was inviting a media frenzy if she continued to put herself and her children in the spotlight. At the time I thought he was crazy and even callused, but Joseph Stueve turned out to be right. He also turned out to be my editor this year.
I remember another guy whose perspective couldn’t be topped. When Sandy would ask us for story ideas, he would say someone should do a story on the longest tenured employee at Sinclair, the oldest athlete on campus or the maintenance workers who kept the campus clean for everyone. Samuel Huist published each of those stories this year.
Joe has grown from a guy with a knack for sports writing into an editor capable of making split-second decisions while managing calls from school administrators, coaches and staff. Sam, the once reserved staff writer, is now the undisputed king of human interest stories and humorous life columns. I can’t wait to see what happens for both of them as they mature even further in their careers.
No matter how many stories we wrote we couldn’t have published them without Heather Stamm and Alex Linton. Their creativity, flexibility and dedication have made this year’s paper a sight to behold. I think the five of us made a great team this year, and I will miss each and every one of them.
Most of all I will miss the paper itself. I feel like this office is my home and this school is my home turf. I have experienced so much of what Sinclair has to offer because of this paper. I have discovered passion through my work at this paper. There’s no way I could ever forget the Clarion’s influence on my life.
With that said, I say my final goodbye to the Clarion and its staff. I know when I look back on this, I will not think of this as goodbye. For all of us, this is only the beginning.
Embracing a growing passion
I remember the day my dad told me to drop out of college.
No, he wasn’t crazy. He was actually encouraging me to pursue what I loved more than anything else—writing. He told me I didn’t need to go to school if I wanted to write for a living. I had to just do it and go. So, I took his advice.
Well, the first half anyway. I dropped out of Arkansas State University Mountain Home in 2004, right before I got married and moved to Ohio. I didn’t go to college for four years, but more importantly, I didn’t write. In fact, I didn’t do much of anything.
In early 2007, I got pregnant and lost my job (a sad coincidence). Three months and one temporary job later, my husband and I decided I needed to go back to school.
I didn’t enroll in Sinclair Community College until Fall 2008. I took a prerequisite and a couple electives, but one class made a bigger difference than all the others: Journalism 101.
When I started studying journalism I knew I had found what I loved. I didn’t fall in love with keeping democracy free, nor did I feel ecstatic about the freedom of information, at least not at first. More than anything, I loved that I was writing again.
I was hired by the Clarion that fall, but writing was only the beginning.
I’m learning that in journalism there is so much more I can do than write a story. I can also record a story, photograph a story, animate a story or simply speak a story. I can print a story, or I can publish a story online. My love for writing grew into a love for storytelling in every way, shape and form possible. All of these possibilities keep journalism fresh and new to me, just like a love affair should be.
I don’t say this to reflect on myself. Instead, I want to encourage you to find what you’re passionate about. Whatever you do, love it. Embrace it. Chase after it with everything you’ve got. It’s when we chase what we love that we make the most out of life.