ETHAN MAY
I have always taken pride in working hard. Up to this point in my life, working hard has been enough to be successful. Successful in that I was able to achieve both what I was asked to do and what I wanted to do.
This week I learned that sometimes working hard isn’t enough. Sometimes you simply need more training and knowledge to succeed at something.
While you must be persistent, sometimes it isn’t enough.
I spent well over a week researching and preparing a story about the Missouri attorney general race. Finally confident that I had enough information, I spent most of the day Sunday writing it. I went to bed Sunday night feeling pretty good about how the story was coming together.
Over the next two days I realized that it wasn’t nearly as good as I originally thought it was or even as good as it needed to be.
I think the story’s failure goes back to my original approach. What was originally going to be a very broad story started to become a more in-depth piece. I ended up in a muddy middle where the story didn’t succeed at being either of these things.
In the end, the story was published and I went through extra verification processes to make sure everything was accurate, but I won’t say I’m happy with the final product.
As John said yesterday, it’s time to move onward and upward.
I must learn from this and move on.
On a lighter note, I am proud of how my most recent life story turned out.
Ethan May 