Starting My Career

Today, I had to go through even more stuff in my room, and I decided to tackle all of the notes/cards/letters/et cetera in my room. Going through the letters reminded me where I've come from and the friends who have helped me along the way in the past. One letter in particular stopped me dead in my tracks when I saw what it was. I looked at the name on the envelope - I recognized the handwriting. It was written by my journalism teacher from high school.

Opening the envelope, I knew exactly what the letter was: It was my acceptance letter onto the high school newspaper staff. I was a freshman in high school when I received the letter one fateful day in the spring. Ever since receiving that letter, it confirmed to me that journalism was the way I wanted to go with my life. It got the ball rolling, and ever since entering my sophomore year, I was part of a news staff. My high school paper was the best environment for me to learn grammar lessons, AP style and how to put a story together. See how I just put a comma after one item, not both, in the previous sentence? That's AP style, and I learned it from my newspaper staff.

The experienced journalists taught me how a newspaper staff should run, and how much dedication it takes to put the paper together. It has helped me succeed in everything journalism-related since.

Finding that letter put me back in that classroom again - the one in which I was handed the letter. The editor-in-chief told me "Congratulations" as she handed it to me, and I was so excited. I owe that staff a lot of my success (which is still exceedingly small, and I know that).

I framed the letter earlier today. It is so important to be thankful for those who created your love for your passion and, in my case, career. Thank you, Mrs. Hiner for harboring my love for writing and fine-tuning my editing skills so that they would aid me in the future. You started it all for me.


(Also, an unrelated thank you to my sister, who reads this often. I'm glad you're checking this and it encourages me to keep writing. I love you, and I'm sad you aren't here for this Christmas. It won't be the same without you.)