I was editing with Liz today when she mentioned something about a list of things to take with me after I leave this class.
That’s when it hit me: A week from Saturday, I’ll turn in my last story as a Columbia Missourian reporter.
In January, I never thought this day would come.
This class is not at all what I thought it would be, as I’ll write in detail about in another blog post next week. (I’ve already started drafting it. It’ll happen.) And I’m astounded at how much I’ve learned this semester — and how much I’ve learned I still need to learn.
I now have (almost) zero qualms about talking to complete strangers, which has translated to me becoming more vocal in classes and meeting-like settings. I’ve become a master of covering lengthy, jargon-filled meetings. And if you want to know anything about what MU or the UM System did this semester, I’m your girl.
(Note: Pull out this information when it’s requested. Not everyone is interested enough in faculty rankings to want to listen to you ramble for 10 minutes about non-tenure-track professors. Not that I know this from experience or anything.)
Basically, I feel like I’ve grown a lot and that I maybe don’t completely suck as a reporter.
But I also know I have things to work on, such as making boring, complex topics easier for people to understand without just regurgitating academic jargon. I also want to integrate the voice in this blog (aka my voice) into the sometimes voiceless tones I give meeting recaps (or the right balance of conversation and seriousness in Facebook posts and tweets, which I’ve found I’m really interested in).
So, I know I’ve come so so far, but I’ve got so far to go.
(Cue “Hairspray.”)