I had never really thought I’d ever be a reporter. I’d always been a writer – usually creative-type stuff. As a teenager I was rather shy, so the thought of actually going out and interviewing people rather terrified me! But, as a young adult with a newly acquired degree in journalism, I got a job as a reporter for a weekly newspaper down in a little city in Mississippi. Nothing like staring my fears down straight in the face!
It was quite intimidating at first, but then I began to fall in love with it. The freedom to drive around the county looking for news, meeting new and interesting people and being able to tell their story to everyone. I quickly discovered that I have a “nose for news” as my editor used to say, and a handy knack for getting people to open up to me and to trust that what they don’t want published won’t be. Soon, I had the trust of city officials – the mayor, the police chief, the fire chief, county administrators. And soon, I was watching the police department practice defusing bombs, watching firefighters rappel down towers, photographing lost pets and attending city meetings. I covered everything that went on in that little city, which was growing and developing at an unfathomable rate.
There was an adrenaline rush that goes along with the job – covering tornado-producing storms, arriving at crime scenes and accidents or fires, and getting scoops on the latest government developments. I’ve stood on top of railroad cars (with police officers’ help) to get the “right angle” of a car vs. train wreck. I was the first reporter to arrive when a plumbing trench collapsed on a worker, which ended horribly with the poor man’s death. I’ve chased a wild goat around the county with the police chief, trying to get the animal out of harm’s way, and to calm the nerves of the citizens. And, then there are the heart-warming human interest stories which truly inspired me to be a better person all-around. Tales of people in life-changing accidents that introduced them to their gift of art, covering Relay for Life cancer survivors, and developing a column to help lost or abused pets find new homes.
Every day was different and my favorite thing about the job was being able to learn something new practically every day – sometimes learning something that truly made me aspire to be a better person altogether.
