Getting Pushed In The Right Direction by courtney

Getting Pushed In The Right Direction by courtney - March 2013 Scholarship Essay

 
            My newspaper advisor has been the most influential teacher I have ever had. I have been in newspaper for three out of my four years in high school. I started out from the very bottom, writing dull stories that no one else on the staff wanted to do. I paid my dues and worked my way to the very top. My senior year I applied to become Editor and Chief and sure enough, I landed it. Since I have had the same advisor for three years I knew how everything worked, including him. I knew what he expected and I also knew what buttons not to press.
 
He is very intense. He knows what works and what doesn’t. He was a journalist before he started teaching. He has such a passion for journalism that it almost comes off too strong for most kids. The first year I had him in class I remember sitting in class as he was telling all of these stories of how he won all these awards and how he has fought censorship at previous schools. I was sitting there thinking “what the heck did I get myself into”. I signed up for this class because I enjoyed writing, not because I wanted to get in trouble. My point is he was very intimidating.
 
            My first year was pretty much me doing the bare minimum to get out a good story. Most of the stories I would write were about new teachers or interesting clubs, nothing that was going to change the face of history. I still didn’t get what he was trying to teach us. I hesitated to sign up for newspaper the following year. I loved to write, but sometimes I felt like he had so much passion that he ended up taking some of our passion away. He knew how he wanted things to go and if they didn’t go that way then there is the door.
 
            I still do not know why I decided to take it again, but I did. I knew exactly what to expect this time, no surprises, at least that is what I thought. We got assigned columns the first day of school; I decided to write about how my father used to be a functioning alcoholic. I turned it in feeling like I had written a fairly good column. Later that day he called me out of one of my other classes telling me that it was going to go in the next issue and that he loved my column. I was thrilled to know that my column was going in the paper. I began writing more and more columns and I began getting assigned tougher stories. I began to feel like I had a purpose, I found a real love for newspaper. I began helping out other students with their writing, becoming a leader. Towards the end of my junior year, my advisor approached me and asked me if I would be interested in an editor’s position. I was ecstatic, of course I was interested. I applied for the position immediately. He called me and said he wanted to offer me the position; I took it in a heartbeat.
 
            I started working on getting things ready for the upcoming year by coming in during the summer. We started working on layout and selling ad’s. During that same summer, before my senior year one of my best friends committed suicide. I stopped coming in as much and life started to get really hard for me. I went through some things that summer that some people never experience in their entire life. My advisor knew of the tragedy and he kept trying to call me to make sure everything was okay and to see what the plan was. I didn’t want to return his calls, or anyone’s calls for that matter. When I finally answered one of his calls, he knew what had happened because they sent information out to all of the teachers. He explained that we could take things slow and ease back into a steady routine. He understood and that was all I needed during that time. Comfort and understanding because there was so much of that lack from the tragedy that happened. When I finally did get back into a routine, he told me that the newspaper would have to do a story on it. My stomach dropped and I a sinking feeling. I knew that I didn’t want to do the story but I also didn’t want anyone else to do it. So I agreed to do it. I wrote the story and surprisingly I felt better. My advisor was there with me every step of the way. He was pushing me to dig deeper and interview all of the family and ask them questions that I didn’t want to ask. After all, these were people that I have known for years and I was in the process of grieving too. At the time I was angry at my advisor, how dare he push me at a time like this.
 
Looking back it was the best thing anyone has ever done for me. I wrote one of the best columns I have ever written. No one else knew my best friend like I did. I was able to portray the story unlike anyone else. My advisor pushed me into becoming a better writer. For the first time in my journalism career I was pushed, pushed into being a better version of myself. I wrote a story in remembrance of my best friend. Thank you for not giving up on me and for not holding me back, but for pushing me when I wasn’t aware I needed pushed.