​Whirlwind Year

Michele Whitehair, Online Producer
Michele Whitehair,
Online Producer

I have never been one of those people who can be happy sitting and doing nothing. I love to be constantly in motion, no matter what.

Growing up, it was playing sports, being with friends or going on a run to clear my head – anything I could do to stay in motion (and drive my family a little bit crazy).

I had no idea how this would translate into college. Without any practices to attend or any other obligations, I worried I would get bored. Then I decided to go to the Ball Bearings meeting. Why not, I thought.

From then on, it has been quite a ride. I have begun drinking coffee like it’s going out of style. I have experienced the headache that comes from staring at a computer screen for hours on end. I have had people older and way more experienced than myself asking me for help.

I’m not going to lie, at first that last fact scared me a lot. These people asking me for help when I have barely started in journalism and them expecting a helpful answer, how was I supposed to do that? After all, I am a freshman and this is only my second semester doing anything remotely related to journalism. Last semester, I was a reporter and now all of a sudden, I’m an online producer. I have to tell other reporters, designers, photographers, videographers, etc., what to do.

I also wondered how I was supposed to tell someone who had been doing this for three years that the story could turn out better if they did it this way instead of that way. But I learned, and am still learning, how to do it so that everyone leaves happy and a successful story is produced.

To this day, however, it still baffles me when I think about how much work goes into each published article. How reporters take interviews, sometimes from numerous sources, turn them into stories, either using audio or words.

Then you probably have a photographer and/or a videographer who takes what they did from an interview and edits it so that it adds even more to the story.

Next, you have a designer who somehow is able to come up with a piece that adds even more to the story in a fun and interactive way. When everyone puts his or her creations together, you end up with a really great story

All that being said, as I sit here thinking about all the stories that are out there still waiting to be told, I find myself excited. And also a little bit stressed. And I have loved every second of it.

There is a lot to be done, and I am excited to be a part of it. What a whirlwind year.