Newspaper and New Ideas by Caleb

Newspaper and New Ideas by Caleb - August 2016 Scholarship Essay

As I started my high school career, I thought I had my career path mapped out. I have always loved to write, and I figured that journalism would be a major that I would not only thrive in, but enjoy as well. Like many other freshmen in my school, I had never had any of my academic ideas challenged, simply because I wrote to a teacher's standards and not my own. During my Introduction to Journalism class, a prerequisite for any student interested in joining Newspaper or Yearbook, I was able to perform well routinely because I was able to write about any topic assigned to me to the teacher's expectations; however, I would soon find out during sophomore year that my idea of good writing would be changed forever.

Once I was accepted onto the Hawkeye News staff, I quickly made friends with my fellow writers and future journalists. It felt reassuring to know that there were other students that expressed the same passion for journalism as me. During the first story meeting, I was given a taste of what real journalism looked like. For the first time in my school career, I was able to choose what I wanted to write on a weekly basis, with standards I set for myself. Most of my articles were labeled under the Entertainment section, as I followed celebrity news and events down to the second in my free time. One day, I decided to change up my general approach and write something for the News section about the death of Freddie Gray. Upon finishing up the article, my editor in chief came up to me and asked me "Caleb? Where was this writing all year?" I was confused as to what she meant, but she explained to me that for the first time during my time in the class that my voice could be heard through the article. While she thought my entertainment articles were up to standards as far as writing went, it felt like a rehashing of information already known. I was shocked. For as long as I could remember, there was nothing wrong with my writing, until I realized at this very moment that I lacked the passion and drive featured in the Freddie Gray article. From that point on, I made sure that the only person I was not writing to impress, but that I was writing to discover meaning in not only myself, but in the topic at hand.

As my writing improved, I was given a group of underclassmen to help with their grammar and writing style. Being a group leader meant that every week, I would have to discuss with other leaders about the direction our members were heading as well as what we wanted to do next in the class. Being one of two group leaders that was not a senior, I admired the older leaders and their knowledge about journalism. During one meeting, we deliberated about the color scheme for the news magazine, and for the first time as a group leader, I did not agree with the senior's choice in colors. It puzzled the other leaders, as well as me. Never before had I disagreed with their choices, nor was there a time that there was a split opinion about a choice we were making. The debate was handled with relative calmness and ease, but I left the meeting with two new perspectives: that not only was it okay to differ from others, but also that voicing different opinions will be something common in the world of journalism. I had never been challenged on my ideas before, but I quickly learned to accept viewpoints differing from my own and learned to compromise.

Overall, Newspaper helped me grow not only as a student by improving my writing, but as a person. It taught me how to better communicate with others, accept differing opinions, and work cooperatively with others in a group to achieve success. I learned that good writing started and ended with me, and that no one will challenge me to improve my writing other than myself. If I never took Newspaper, my high school career would not have been as enjoyable as it was due to the improved writing and workforce skills it instilled in me.