I'm a newspaper woman!

Well, maybe not quite. But I'm on my way.

I had my newspaper practicum class last night. When I heard about this class, I thought maybe we would learn about writing for a few weeks and then towards the end of the semester maybe write something that we could put in the school paper. I was ready to sit at a desk and take notes for an hour.

Instead I found myself standing in the tiny newspaper office, accepting an assignment on the upcoming Behrend Alumni weekend. Head still reeling from what I had signed up for, an editor threw an old edition of the school paper at me and told me to read it, because then I would know how to write. Class dismissed.

On one hand it's scary. I've never had anything of mine in any kind of paper before. I've never interviewed anyone before. They didn't even give me an angle, I have to come up with my own story. I mean, I still walk out of my dorm and spin foolishly until I figure out which way my next class is, I'm still trying to learn how to survive day by day here. And if I blow this, I have a professor and a room full of upperclassmen editors to answer to. Oh, and I have less than a week to finish it.

On the other hand, it's wonderful. For the first time since I arrived at college, someone is already assuming that I am an intelligent, capable adult. I have to turn almost nothing into a 500 word newspaper article. I'm already building a portfolio. I'm responsible for finding who I need to, making an appointment, and asking them the right questions. I then have a to write something clear, accurate, and at least a little bit interesting. And then whatever I crank out will be published, in black and white, with my name attached to it, and people will read it.

I wish I could explain what this has done to my life here at college. Until now, everything has felt fragmented and out of place. My days haven't been strung together, they just kind of float aimlessly around while I try in vain to peg everything down. I was a nameless student drifting around a big, new and strange campus. But now I have a name and I have a voice in this place. People are counting on me and I belong to something. When the paper comes out I will hold it and say, this wouldn't have been the same if it weren't for me.