ETHAN MAY
I am a firm believer that the meaning of life is hidden behind the word cliché. Clichés are those things you hear all of the time. Actions speak louder than words. Drink more water. The grass is always greener on the other side. Love is blind. Ignorance is bliss. You can’t please everyone. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
These days, goal setting has become so common that it has almost reached cliché status, yet I still believe in it.
I think it’s crucial to set attainable and measurable goals that can be reflected on over time. Now I’m going to take time to set some goals for myself for this summer.
Volunteer To Cover Stories Out Of My Comfort Zone
I enjoy writing many types of stories; however, just like everyone else, I have my favorite types. This summer I want to challenge myself to volunteer to cover stories that I may not immediately find appealing or may find especially challenging. For example, I find religion to be fascinating, yet I’ve never attended a muslim prayer service. I know it would be uncomfortable for me at first, but I think covering a story in this atmosphere would help me grow as a journalist.
Bring Lunches More Often
Let’s face it: Nobody should eat lunch out every day. I really do enjoy cooking when I have time to do it. I need to make more of an effort to cook a meal each evening so the leftovers can be newsroom lunch the next day. Why am I including this goal in here? Because it really is a goal that I have and also because nobody can do their best work on an empty stomach.
Learn About My Fellow Reporters and Learn FROM Them
A newsroom’s diversity is crucial. While practicing objectivity as a process, each individual reporter uses their identity, built from past experiences, to analyze the information at hand. I have made it my goal to see how my fellow reporters go about their reporting process. To best do this, I believe I need to understand a little bit about the reporter.
Acquaint Myself With As Many Missourian Staff Members As Possible
Connections are crucial in any industry, but I think there is a valid argument that they are even more crucial in journalism. The Missouri School of Journalism hires fantastic faculty members to teach its students. I would be silly not to take advantage of this.
Better My Writing Skills By Bettering My Reporting
During orientation, John talked about how the writing essentially does itself if you do great reporting. I had never really thought about journalism in this way, and the sentiment really struck a chord with me. The first week and a half of this course I made an effort to do just that: improve my writing by doing more reporting. This worked like a charm for the Tyronn Lue story. After spending much of the previous day tracking down people, I was able to easily piece together the story after the event.
At the end of the summer I will review my goals and grade my progress.
Ethan May 