Finding confidence and direction

Despite growing up about two hours away from Miami University, I’d never heard of it until my sophomore year of high school. I was in my first year on the yearbook staff, and my advisor asked if anyone would be interested in attending a workshop our publisher was holding at Miami.

I thought “Why not?” and went with a friend. After the workshop was over, we were given a tour of campus. I instantly fell in love with it and decided pretty quickly that I had my heart set on going to Miami.

Picking a college to attend was never hard for me, but deciding on a major was.

I initially considered journalism because I enjoyed the work I did for the yearbook and thought that it would be something I’d really like, but I was hesitant to pick it because I was insecure about my writing skills.

In the fall of 2019, I came into Miami undecided and spent all of my first year trying to pick between a couple of different options. I felt like I was just floating through, hoping that somewhere along the way I would magically decide on what I wanted to do with my life.

Time flew by, and all of a sudden sophomore year began and I still didn’t have a major. I knew it was time to make up my mind, so I finally decided on journalism. I felt a little better once I picked a major, but I was still very unconfident in myself and what path I wanted to go down.

Looking back, I now know I just needed a little nudge in the right direction. During the spring 2021 semester, I took JRN 201 with Patti Newberry, who gave me the push I didn’t know I needed by suggesting that I join The Miami Student.

I’m so glad I did.

Through writing for both The Student and my classes, I’ve been constantly getting feedback on my work and learning what aspects I need to work on.

I know I could continue to improve, but I’ve come a long way since my first journalism courses in fall 2020.

Because of this, I was finally able to shake some of the doubt I had in my writing ability.

Beyond writing, I’ve been lucky enough to meet and build friendships with some pretty cool people.

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I’ll miss having classes with familiar faces.

I’ll miss spending time in the newsroom in between classes and never getting any homework done because I was having too much fun goofing off with other staffers.

I’ll miss the things that happened at social events that made me laugh so hard I cried, like Sean Scott’s graphics for his presentation on “Dune” for our most recent PowerPoint night.

There are so many more reasons why I’m glad I joined The Student, and it would be impossible to list them all here.

So thank you, TMS, for taking someone who lacked confidence and direction and giving her another community, as well as helping to make her feel like she made the right decision in picking journalism as a major.

I’m so grateful for you and I’ll miss you dearly.

@meta__hoge

hogemh@miamioh.edu