Reflections on the Writing Process:
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My experiences with writing for The Crow's Nest have taught me many things, among them the importance of patience, time management, preparation, reliability, accuracy and determination. I've had to work with sources that seemed to show little respect for my mission to report the news as well as others who did not appreciate the story I was writing about them. I've learned to deal with the different frustrations that always seem to find you at the wrong time as you're working toward a deadline, as well as appreciate the times when things just seem to go right while working on a story. For the most part, I've beaten my arch-enemy, procrastination, striving to turn in the best work possible by the deadline at any cost.
There was only one time where I nearly panicked.
In one memorable instance, there was a miscommunication about the date an event was to take place - the appearance of an Army Flight Simulator on campus to promote enrollment for the Army ROTC. I was told it would be on a Wednesday, and was stunned to see the simulator set up as I walked to class on Tuesday. I ran across the street at full speed, desperate to speak to someone in charge.
Upon hearing that my worst fear had been realized - that I had missed the entire event and now had no story to write - I stepped back for a minute, flipping through my notebook. As quickly as I could, I started to think up new angles I could use to still save the story. I could have panicked, but I chose to think it through instead, keeping my composure as I suddenly realized I could write an article about the actual Army ROTC program instead. I ran this by our Editor-in-Chief, and returned to interview as many of the ROTC members as I could, finally turning in a story about the program's role on campus.
That day taught me that there are always other angles to every story, and that I should be able to salvage a potentially damaging situation by coming up with multiple ways a story could be told. I learned to always keep an open mind and be ready to write about something completely different if the moment arises.
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