When I received the email that I was accepted into this program, honestly, I was speechless. Around this time last year, my professor at SacState recommended I apply for NextGenRadio. I was hesitant because I was still pretty inexperienced, instead I promised myself by next year, I would apply and produce something I am proud of. When we started this week, all of the nerves took over my thoughts. I would keep my camera off and only answer the questions I was asked so I wouldn’t attract too much attention to myself. On my application I remembered writing that I was yearning for the newsroom experience. Working with other journalists and editors to create unique stories.
I had some talks with myself this week. I find the thought of sharing my ideas with people I don’t know uncomfortable. The possibility of me sharing ideas to a group of strangers who think it’s wrong scares me. I started to warm up to the idea of asking for help when I had writer’s block. As much as possible, I constantly slacked Janelle, Sara and Marnette if I had questions or needed a second opinion. Four months away from my college newspaper made me forget that the newsroom is for collaboration and teamwork, no room for ego.
Photography, video editing and writing: those were the main elements of journalism I worked on most. I never knew how complex and detail-oriented audio editing could be. When I received the audio recording equipment, the nerves started to get to me, made me overthink and second guess my capabilities. Conducting an interview with a person who speaks another language, handling tech with no prior knowledge was enough to keep me up at night. I had to change my perspective. I have been waiting for a chance to experiment in the field of journalism. This was a chance for me to become a more versatile journalist.
