Blog #1

Why Am I Here?

This was an interesting question to me, because I feel like I'm always on the go and never really think of why I'm doing what I'm doing. 

However, I will say that I am confident in my decision to go to High Point University. I love the weather, the people, my professors, my classes, and the opportunities here. I want to become a sports journalist and I could never have imagined that during my college career I would already be writing on a more professional level. 

I am a writer for the View Point which is an unaffiliated newspaper that covers news and events happening at HPU and around the community. I decided to start writing for the View Point, because I liked the idea of giving the voice to the voiceless and opening people's eyes to what actually goes on at and around this campus.

I've wanted to be a journalist since middle school because I wanted to provide the truth to others. Sports have been a part of my life since I was little. Playing a sport has helped me gain confidence and has taught me how to work hard and persevere. I think that sports are so important for so many others and I want to be able to show that sports are so much more than winning and losing. 

I want to write about the issues surrounding sports as well, because even though I can see how sports changed my life, I know that the sports world is not perfect. I want to write about more than just the scores of games, I want to write about how sports have brought people together, how sports have helped to evolve the conversation of gender inequality, racism, and so many more social issues. 

I hope to be an online journalist who writes for a sports section of a paper or a sports site. My dream is to write for ESPN, but I know that the sports industry is laying off people left and right, so I would do anything just to get a chance in the industry. I'm open to being on podcasts and I'm interested in learning about broadcasting too because I have learned that the industry is changing with the evolving technology. I look forward to expanding my skills at High Point University to become the best possible employee I can be.

Regarding this class, I think that it is important that I take it, because I think that it is essential to understand the history of journalism. I think that understanding how we got here can help me in the future, because when something goes on, I can look to the past to see how journalists handle it back then. 

I'm looking forward to writing more blog posts, because they help connect history to my life and I think I process it better with the help of a writing prompt. I think that it is essential as a journalist to know my rights and to know how to conduct ethical journalism practices. If I didn't learn things like the First Amendment or about censorship, I feel like I would be blind to mass media, because cases of the First Amendment and censorship happen all the time and could eventually happen to me. 

It is also essential to learn about libel because writing false information that could hinder someone's reputation could also destroy mine too. I would lose all credibility as a journalist, lose my job, and be charged for libel on top of everything else. 

I'm looking forward to this class, because I think that it will challenge me to focus on what has happened in my potential field and what is happening currently. There is a lot of change going on and it will continue, so I think that this class will be super helpful in a sense, because I think that I will feel obligated to pay attention to what is going on in the world for journalists. It's impossible to thrive in a field of work without knowing what is going on in it, so it is essential for me to stay up to date. 

I need to demonstrate that I am fit for my future career in interviews with employers and being educated on certain journalistic principles and news is one way to do so. I'm looking forward to writing and presenting in this class, because I hope to write and present for the world. This class will give me good practice on doing both activities in more of a professional manner. I have found my love for blogging through previous classes, and I could certainly see myself creating my own sports blog in the future. I have learned that I enjoy the freedom that I have when blogging and I feel little anxiety when I write in this type of format. 

Ultimately, I think that this class will provide me with many lessons on the history of the career I wish to go into and will also allow me to expand on multiple skills that are essential for the ever-changing world of journalism in the digital realm.