Month: August 2017

IT’S HAPPENING! Everybody stay calm! I’m actually working.

Funnily enough, it doesn’t feel so strange to be doing actual pre-reporting work. It’s not anything I haven’t done before. I’ve prepared emails and I’ve researched players and stats; but it doesn’t feel out of the ordinary.

Last week, including the days leading up to today, I was a bit nervous about getting started. From my previous post, you might not think I was that worried to get started, but in all truth, I was.

I was scared to get that first phone call out of the way. I was scared to send an email, to report, and to put my name on it. It seemed a lot more daunting than it should have. But, I have gotten through that barrier and I feel relaxed once again.

But can a journalist ever be relaxed? In certain terms, yes and no. Yes, because it’s ok to be the connection from people to pages and it’s ok to feel nervous about that. But, news never stops; nor does life.

A journalist should not miss an opportunity to report due to lack of care or want. Time must be divided to provide to work for all necessities. But, when you are hungry, you must eat. When you are tired, you must sleep.

Don’t kill yourself over journalism, rather kill the bad habits that threaten yourself and prevent journalism.

A video of a professor teaching his class comes to mind when I talk about juggling stress.

Enjoy this video as much as I did. It taught me a lesson that really hadn’t been taught to me up until this point in my life. It’s ok to be alive. Stuff happens that we can’t control and life can get stressful. Though once we relax, choose our battles, and choose our happiness, life becomes balanced.

I admit, this became a lot more about stress coping over my first feature story. But, I want to spread a lesson I’ve only recently learned to those who might not have or needed a reminder. Limit your stress, don’t limit your life.

Coming soon will be my first featured story as a reporter. Stay tuned and stay calm.

~DS

“He’s Back.”- Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge

When Fudge said this, he wasn’t describing my return to blogging of course. He was announcing the return of Lord Voldemort.

In no way am I similar to Lord Voldemort but I digress. The reason I’m back is because I’m now officially a Big-J Journalist at the University of Missouri after two hard years of work.

This means, I’m bringing back my blog not because I’m supposed to for my current class, but because I’m getting another chance to go over my weekly experiences in reporting once again. (And just a little bit because I have to.)

From previous classes, you can scroll down this blog and find earlier cases of my thoughts and opinions about reporting and get some information about what past experiences I’ve had as a journalist. You’ll be getting the same thing now generally, but hopefully you’ll see some progress.

It’s been just over a year since I last posted to this blog. I hope since then I’ve become a better writer and a better journalist overall. Since I’ve last written, my YouTube page has grown, I’ve started a podcast, and I have more journalism work underneath my belt.

I hope what I’ve learned and experienced will help me move forward as a sports reporter for the Columbia Missourian. 

Being a reporter is something I’ve dreamed of for a long time now and now that I’m finally here, some nerves are starting to set in. I’ve done the work to get to this point and I always thought this was what the peak would be, but it’s not. I’ve got a long way to go on my journey; I’ve only just completed the first leg of it.

For now, I am the official beat writer for the University of Missouri Volleyball team. Volleyball is a sport I have little experience with but now I’ve got to be the middleman for MU’s volleyball team and basically, the rest of the world. It’s crazy to think about, but it’s something I haven’t quite digested yet.

This is my doorway into one day being a household name like Woodward and Bernstein. Though it may be nerve-racking, it’s the doorway to the rest of my life and I’m very excited to get that started.

Welcome back to my journey.

~DS