I wasn’t at UNK long before I went from being a student to a student journalist.
It was my first week of college classes, and I received an email from the student newspaper adviser. In total honesty, this wasn’t my first email from him. He’d sent me an email over the summer welcoming me to UNK and encouraging me to get involved in our department’s media organizations.
Two weeks later, I realized I had forgotten to respond. For whatever reason, I thought it would be better not to reply than to respond after so much time had passed, so I didn’t. Rookie mistake.
After the second email and invitation to chat, I figured it would be beneficial to meet my eventual professor. What I thought was going to be a quick “Welcome to UNK” meeting ended with me joining the newspaper staff.
Picture this: a doe-eyed freshman who doesn’t know how to say no. That was me.
I’ve been a part of The Antelope ever since. When I look back on my last four years with the newspaper, I can’t help but think she had no idea what that one meeting would lead to.
My first year at The Antelope was full of learning. I was a quiet little freshman who was intimidated by pretty much everything. Everything I was doing for the newspaper was new to me, interviewing sources and writing a hard news story every week. Of course, I had an existential crisis and wondered if I had chosen the right field – who doesn’t?
After that first year, I took on a role as an editor and eventually editor-in-chief. My “aha moment” came at the end of my sophomore year.
Another staff member and I were interviewing the chancellor, who was retiring at the time. When he was telling us about his career, he said, “I did things that in my mind were important and fulfilling.”
When he said that, it all clicked. Journalism had become just that for me. I’d seen firsthand the value of good, ethical journalism and the impact it can have. I loved what I was doing.
The saying is true that you know you’ve found the right path when work doesn’t feel like work. I found that at The Antelope.
There are many factors that contributed to this, but the biggest one was the people. I’ve gotten the opportunity to work with dozens of people over the last four years. Every semester, there are both students joining the staff and graduating, which is both a happy and sad part of the job. I have countless memories with my “coworkers”, who really are just my friends. Not many people can say that, and I’m grateful that these are the people I spent hours in the newsroom with each week.
“The people make the place.” I learned just how true this is both in the newsroom and while covering UNK.
A journalist can’t be a journalist for long without falling in love with humanity. After every interview I’ve done, I have thought, “This is why I do what I do.” It’s my favorite part of the reporting process. Everyone has a story to tell, their own passions and things that make them them. It sounds cliché, but it’s true.
I love getting to hear about what other people want to talk about, giving others a chance to share on the things they care about, being a listening ear and serving by simply letting others speak. It’s one of the best gifts we can give another.
The UNK community is full of amazing people. While many of the interviews I’ve done were less than 10 minutes, each person left a mark on me. I often left interviews curious about new things, inspired and in awe with who people were and the life they were living.
I went back and forth on whether or not to write a “last article” for The Antelope. It felt fitting, but I wasn’t sure what the purpose of it would be. When I eventually landed on why it felt right, it revealed the message I want to leave The Antelope staff with.
Hang with me for a bit, and we’ll get there.
Why write about my time at The Antelope? Me writing about it has no benefit to anyone else, so I didn’t see the point. I finally realized that’s exactly why I should write it. I should just write it for me.
The stories I’ve written over the last four years haven’t been for myself. They’re for the people I’ve interviewed and the UNK community. That’s exactly who I want to write for – that’s where the true value is.
This is what I want to leave The Antelope team with. What each of you does is important. I can’t say whether it will feel fulfilling for everyone, but no matter what, what The Antelope does will always be extremely valuable to the campus community. It holds an irreplaceable value in our community. Let that lead you. We don’t do what we do for ourselves. We do it for them.
It’s been a gift to cover the UNK community the last four years, and I hope everyone else who walks into the newsroom leaves taking away just as much as I have. Thank you to everyone who has been a part of it.
