Mommy The Journalist: March 2014

synonyms: cleverness, genius, imagination, ingenuity, inspiration, inventiveness, originality, talent, vision

I've always been creative. I guess it's in my genes. I have an aunt who is a professional artist; my biological father makes signs for a living; my mom is a teacher.

I've been writing as long as I can remember, from personal journals to short stories and poetry. Once, inspired by Nancy Drew, I even wrote a mystery book about some of my classmates. When I was in elementary school, one of my short stories was published in a compilation book of student works. It was about a world inside of a discarded Sprite bottle. Now, in addition to the stories I write for the news, I write for this blog.

So obviously I've got some creativity running through my veins, but why news?

I had my first experience with "news" in middle school. My class put together a little newspaper. Okay, so it was more like a glorified newsletter complete with Valentine's Grams and even some relationship gossip. Then, I got involved with my high school's newspaper, 'The Paw Print'. From sports to news to layout and design and ad sales, I did a little bit of everything, and I fell in love.

The next step was obviously to get involved in college. Instead of going the traditional route of joining the newspaper staff or working at the television station, I joined the yearbook staff. The Palladium was more like an annual magazine than a yearbook, full of sports stories, features on students and faculty, stories on campus events, etc. I worked my way up to the editor-in-chief position my senior year, managing a staff of more than 20 students.

I interned with a local magazine the summer between my junior and senior years of college. That experience exposed me to a whole different type of journalism. It was more socially driven, lighthearted and featuresque.

Now, I work at the number one local television station as the Senior/Executive Producer. I find that it's a combination of all three of my previous experiences rolled into one but with video added in.

My love for this field hasn't diminished yet, despite the stress that often comes with the territory. This field may not be as lucrative as an accomplished author's, but I don't think I'd enjoy that profession any more than this. Creating worlds and characters is one thing. Being able to tell the stories of real people is something else entirely, and I get to do that every day.