Dear future me,
I hope when you read this, first and foremost – you keep accomplishing your goals. Although you might still need to work extremely hard towards your dreams, I hope you read this and decide to keep pushing. Even though you might face some failures, trust that everything you learn along the way will shape you into a better person. Whenever you feel tired, look back at how far you already came from the beginning of your journey. Most importantly, never stop fighting for the life you want.
If you want to give up, read this letter about the very beginning of your journalistic journey.
Now come back to my current life. I write this letter to you in the middle of the spring semester of my freshman year. I don’t know what will happen, but I excitedly await for you to read this letter one day in the future. At this point, you joined three journalism-related clubs. Right now, I think The Daily Collegian, a student-run newspaper outlet at Penn State, changed my life.
Let me remind you of my experience at the Collegian. When I went to Penn State last fall, many people encouraged me to try new things. I didn’t want to get out of my comfort zone, but I applied for a lifestyle candidate position for the Collegian anyways. Since I didn’t feel ready to join a new community at the very beginning of college, I didn’t expect to get into the club. Yet, to my surprise, I got accepted. At that moment, the seeds of studying journalism planted in my heart.
In the Collegian, I met a lot of wonderful people who shared the same interests as me. Every time I stepped in the media center to meet with the editors, my heart told me that I really wanted to turn out like them in the future – professional, transparent journalists. So I kept working hard to answer my heart’s calling. When I joined the first budget meeting, one of the lifestyle editors said my story, about Penn State students’ dining experiences, turned into her favorite of that week. As a result, during the meeting, the editors nominated me, “The Candidate of The Week” for the very first time.
Time flew.
The fall semester finally came to an end in December along with my candidacy in the Collegian. But my passion for journalism never ended. Before Christmas, the editor-in-chief sent out the application form for spring staff positions. After some consideration, I decided to apply for the general sports reporter position. Even though I felt comfortable in my previous position, I wanted to push myself to a new limit. So, as you remember that moment in history, remember to never shy away from the unknown due to fear. I hope you can remember this feeling while you continue pursuing your journalistic dreams.
At the beginning of the spring semester, I felt quite confused about what I should do for this new position. I went to ask the sports editors for help. They told me that my job mainly involves finding stories, reaching out to sources and storytelling. The two editors walked me through the entire process, then provided me with story ideas. Thanks to their help, I finally got back on the right track. In addition to those two sports editors, a lot of other great people helped me achieve my goals. Without their help, the public couldn’t read, enjoy or learn from my stories. Because of this, I am deeply grateful for them. I hope that you remember and feel this sense of gratitude while you go through the rest of your journalistic journey. I also hope that you remember to never feel too proud to lean on others for help.
After I understood my duties for this position, I received my first challenge in the form of an interview.
The interview process for my first story came with a lot of difficulties. While working on a story regarding students’ experiences living near athletes, I went to the HUB, a facility for student resources and dining, to ask for interviews. Unfortunately, after two hours of searching, I didn’t find any sources. This made me feel extremely disappointed about my starter journalism skills. Yet, I didn’t let my disappointment stop me. Instead, I reached out to the editors for more help. They told me how to find sources for interviews more easily. Therefore, I continued working to get sources.
When the deadline for the story came close, I decided to search for sources in Martin Hall, where many football players lived. After three hours of hard work, I finally got all the sources I needed for my story. As I left Martin Hall, it began to snow. At that moment, I looked up at the cloudless dark sky with a smile because my hard work finally paid off. Watching those snowflakes fall from the sky, I felt like they wanted to provide me with a big celebration for successfully finding all the sources I needed. Despite the cold temperature outside, I stood in front of Martin Hall for a long time to think about all the effort that I put into creating this content.
I will never forget that snowy night. I hope you won’t either. Oh, I almost forgot to tell you the most important thing: the story not only got published onto the Collegian website, but the editors also put it in the newspaper. The first time I saw my work in the print media, I felt on the top of the world. I cut my story out of the newspaper then stuck it on the wall by my bed. Every night before I go to bed, I look at the story then tell myself that I will do my best in journalism, no matter what.
Future me, you really did a great job in the Collegian so far.
I hope you feel proud of yourself. It doesn’t matter how many stories get published on the website or in the newspaper, I hope you enjoy studying journalism. Most importantly, if you feel tired, look back to see how far you already came in this industry. Keep in mind that all of your efforts will pay off one day in the future. Don’t rush, keep doing the things that you love. Life will reveal all the answers at the end. Also, never forget why you chose to start your journalistic journey.
Kindest regards,
Xiaotong
