I was introduced to journalism through my mom, which was strange because she’s not a

journalist- she’s a doctor. Despite her career, she had an affinity for writing and minored in
journalism during college. Through her I learned how to be inquisitive; I learned how to ask,
because if I didn’t ask I would never know. This is the first lesson I learned as a journalist
because journalists have to ask, if they don’t ask there is no story, there is no interview. If
journalists do not ask, there is nothing.
Going into 9th grade my school offered a Journalism 1 class, at my mom’s behest and my
growing curiosity, I took the class. This class was my secondary introduction to journalism. In
this class I learned that journalists told the stories of the world. Journalists told the stories that
were uncovered from the coarse sands of the Isle of Palms beaches and the stories that were
hidden down the alleys of King Street. I had not only learned how to tell a story factually, but
also passionately. It was from this class that I developed a passion; a passion for seeking out
stories from people and telling their stories. I wanted to bring to life the stories I had heard and
tell them the same way I had seen in class. Every single person has something to share, and I
wanted to share all of it.
After learning about all the exciting things journalists had done, freshman me was
jealous. Journalists found stories in every nook and corner of the world; they got to tell stories far
and wide. Journalists got to go up in planes and travel to different continents to tell fascinating
stories of other people. I was extremely jealous until I learned of an opportunity I had to be a
journalist, maybe not one that saw other continents, but I could still be a journalist. I had the
opportunity to join my high school’s yearbook.
Sophomore year I was a staff writer for my school’s yearbook and I was buzzing with the
excitement of what that meant for me. I found a school organization where I would get to meet
new people and write about students and teachers. For the first time in a long time I had
certainty. I knew what life had for me, I would go to school and have a class where I felt safe and
certain. I had my yearbook class. College was years off and I wasn’t nervous about being new to
high school any longer. I had certainty. I credit the certainty I had everyday to my yearbook
class. The state of the world was a question, but my Monday through Friday was not. The
certainty I found through journalism was a comfort that, at the time, I didn’t know I needed.
Looking back I realized the certainty journalism provided me is what being a journalist is all
about.
In a world that is full of uncertainty, journalists provide the certainty. Journalists answer
the questions about the state of the world. When there is disarray about the unknown, it is the
journalists who uncover, who dig, and who provide certainty when there is little to be found. To
be a journalist is to tell the truth that others cannot find. To be a journalist is to tell the stories of
others. To be a journalist is to strengthen the voices of others through their photos and their
writing. To be a journalist is to be the certainty.
Now, as editor-in-chief of my school’s yearbook, I get to be the certainty. I have the
honor of seeing myself in those new to staff and I get to watch them experience what I have, and
I get to learn from them. This position has taught me a multitude of things, but the skill I cherish
most from my time as editor-in-chief is leadership. Leadership is a skill presented differently
depending on the leader, but I find that I have grown into myself and developed confidence in
my abilities because of the opportunity I had to lead. I got to share what I know and help others
grow, an opportunity I never would have had were it not for journalism. Journalism has delivered
me to where I am now. I can say with complete certainty that I would not be the person I am
meant to be if I had not decided to become a student journalist. I have had no greater gift than the
certainty journalism has provided me.
My life has been full of uncertainty. My dad was in the Air Force so growing up we never
knew when we were going to move, or where. I didn’t know what school I was going to. I didn’t
know if I was going to make friends. When I joined my school’s yearbook I was gifted certainty.
To this day, from staff writer to co-editor-in-chief, I know no matter what happens I will always
have journalism. I rely on journalism to provide me certainty, the public relies on journalists to
be the certainty. It is my biggest comfort to know that the world will always have journalists, that
is certain.