This year in student journalism/online newspaper has really opened my eyes to a lot of things. One thing has definitely become more clear to me is that I like to work alone and you may find this out about yourself as well, because in newspaper if you have to rely on other people for stuff like getting pictures or quotes then more often than not they won’t do it, so you have to do it yourself.

Another thing that I’ve learned about myself this year from newspaper is that a lot of people have stuff in common, we just don’t know that because a lot of the time we don’t have the courage to strike up a conversation with a random person. If we did then more often than not you would probably find something in common and then you could make the story about that. The reason I bring that up is because when I go and ask someone for a quote about something that that person is passionate about then they will tell you and tell you in great detail. When you ask someone a certain thing that they are passionate about then they will open up because a lot of people probably haven’t asked them that before and they would love to share the info they have about that topic and I think that’s awesome to be the first person to ask that other person about something that they thought they would never be asked about and when they get asked they splurge about that topic and I think that’s super cool.

Now with the stories I’ve told I think they are all amazing and I’m proud of them all but a few could definitely use work and that happens a lot to people when you get something finished but then after it’s done then you find out the issues after it’s already done and posted. That’s going to happen but every time you make a story make sure you are giving 110% to it because if you do then you notice a mistake afterwards then that mistake to you won’t be noticed by others because you gave it your all. Another reason to give it your all is because if you are making a story about someone, they are relying on you to make the story show them in the best light possible because it’s gonna be all about them, so you cannot make it sloppy.

Another thing that is challenging about student journalism will always be the first step which is putting yourself out there and that can be scary. But you will need to learn how to push through that and make the best stories you can and when you have that confidence then you will make those stories the best they can be. The last step of student journalism is that you need to make your stories memorable because if it’s not memorable then people might get bored halfway through and they might stop reading but if you make it fun and interesting then people will remember it. That’s what you want your stories to do to people, you want your stories to have an impact because your words mean so much more than you think when you are writing about something or somebody. In conclusion, make your stories in your own style but always be open for suggestions and always ask someone to re-read over your stories and you may get constructive criticism, because in the end it will help your final project.