I did not waste time waiting for a bus after my interviews at Uhle's Tobacco Company were complete. I briskly walked the 11 blocks back to my dorm room with a beaming smile hid behind a constant fog from my breath.
My experience at Uhle's kindled a warm joy. A blaze of details and quotes flashed through my brain as I attempted to organize my thoughts into a powerful lede. I had just unearthed a great story — complete with intriguing conflict and interesting characters. All I had to do was mold it with words and punctuation and I would have my first ever real article.
What I learned from writing my article about Uhle's was that the exciting part was not seeing it in print form (although it was a fun little perk). No, the best part about the project was the reporting aspect. I loved meeting the people and, much to my surprise, they loved talking to me.
Prior to this experience, a fear to communicate imprisoned me. I have also been afraid that by interviewing people, I was wasting their time or giving them another thing to do. Why would a business owner, who had a checklist of a hundred things to accomplish in a day, want to spend precious time talking to a student journalist?
The answer, I think, has something to do with human nature. People love sharing their lives. They love talking, telling stories, diving into their favorite memories — it's as if they are elongating their lives. The best conversations are never new; they are immersed in reliving past experiences and the lessons derived from them.
This is why talking to the regular customers at Uhle's was so thrilling. They were so happy to tell their stories and share a bit of their insight. I might have second-hand-smoked a box of cigars, but my conversation was so enlightening to their lifestyle.
As I walked back to campus from Uhle's, there was a split second where I embraced the high of journalism. I loved the personal connections I made at the cigar shop. It was something I would have completely forgone had I not searched for the story.
It is necessary for journalism students to experience this high if they want to pursue journalism. They must be forced to stamp out their fears of communication regularly if they want to be reporters.
My experience at Uhle's kindled a warm joy. A blaze of details and quotes flashed through my brain as I attempted to organize my thoughts into a powerful lede. I had just unearthed a great story — complete with intriguing conflict and interesting characters. All I had to do was mold it with words and punctuation and I would have my first ever real article.
What I learned from writing my article about Uhle's was that the exciting part was not seeing it in print form (although it was a fun little perk). No, the best part about the project was the reporting aspect. I loved meeting the people and, much to my surprise, they loved talking to me.
Prior to this experience, a fear to communicate imprisoned me. I have also been afraid that by interviewing people, I was wasting their time or giving them another thing to do. Why would a business owner, who had a checklist of a hundred things to accomplish in a day, want to spend precious time talking to a student journalist?
The answer, I think, has something to do with human nature. People love sharing their lives. They love talking, telling stories, diving into their favorite memories — it's as if they are elongating their lives. The best conversations are never new; they are immersed in reliving past experiences and the lessons derived from them.
This is why talking to the regular customers at Uhle's was so thrilling. They were so happy to tell their stories and share a bit of their insight. I might have second-hand-smoked a box of cigars, but my conversation was so enlightening to their lifestyle.
As I walked back to campus from Uhle's, there was a split second where I embraced the high of journalism. I loved the personal connections I made at the cigar shop. It was something I would have completely forgone had I not searched for the story.
It is necessary for journalism students to experience this high if they want to pursue journalism. They must be forced to stamp out their fears of communication regularly if they want to be reporters.