Be my escape

In 9 short months, I will be wearing a cap and gown and will offically have my ticket out of this town, out of this life.

I need to leave. I need a new place, a new job, new dreams and new experiences.

I do love SDSU and the wonderful people hear and it has been good to me. But it almost seems as though things are quietly telling me there are sick of me and now it is time to go.

I feel like I have nothing left here. My friends all love me, but they are moving on to the world of husbands and kids and leaving me behind. I like my job, but not enough to stay here and make peanuts.

I have no romantic relationship, which sucks and rocks at the same time. I want to be with someone, but I refuse to let someone stand infront of my dreams.

Anyways, I will enjoy this last year and I will try and make the most of it. But I need to leave. Where? I am not sure. What? Don't know that either. All I know is that whatever I do has gotta pay the rent and whereever I go can't be Pierre, Brookings or any other South Dakota place.

I need adventure, life and finding.

My girl's ex-boyfriend

So today I recieved some rather tough news, my ex has a new girlfriend. I knew it was coming because many of my friends love me dearly and wanted me to know that he has been seeing a girl and more than likely are dating. Well today, I found the confrimation and was upset, but only for a few moments. I described to one of my co-workers as like peeling off a band-aide, I have been working on it and this was the last little sting.

So why does this upset me? Do I want him back? No. We weren't right for each other and I was super unhappy. That's the key, I was unhappy. So it in my mind, I would be the first to move on. But he is the one who has a new relationship.

However, I started to think about why I am not in my relationship? I have had the opportunity to be in one? Yup, I've actually had a couple of persuers. If I really wanted to be in a "re-bound" relationship, I could have a long time ago. But that just isn't my style. And none of those guys were right for me, like I said before, I will never settle again.

I have had some interesting thoughts about my ex. To be honest, I don't like the guy. He hurt me so bad when he told me he didn't love me. I understand the relationship didn't work, but still that hurts.

It was hard getting over him and I am so glad that he isn't around anymore and I don't have to see. A friend of mine told me that I give this "I-want-to-throw-up"look everytime someone mention's his name. I really dislike him. If I were to see him, I would probably walk away in the other direction.

We tried to be friends, but I couldn't do it. He thought we could just pick up where we left off, nope. When he brought his soon-to-be-girlfriend around me for the first time, it wasn't pretty. We ended up fighting over skeltons in the closet, and I made a vow not to talk to him until I was ready to, if I ever again.

While fighting, I told him I hated him and I meant it. I don't like him. I don't like the way I feel when he is around and I certainly don't like the pain he has caused. I would love to invoke half the pain I went through on him, just so he knows how I felt. But he is an easy-going guy and usually lets things roll off his shoulder, so I am not sure how I would get at him if I ever wanted to.

One of my friends is still pressuring me to be his friend. I don't want to be. I really don't want anything to do with him. There may come a time when I can be friends with him, but I don't think that time is in the near future. Darcy said I shouldn't be friends with him because I don't owe him anything. She thinks staying away from him is probably the best idea, but then again she doesn't like him very much.

Anyways, I have all this pent up anger at him, but I had an interesting "ephinany" if you will yesterday. My ex helped me get out of a situation I couldn't get out of. He forced me out. I didn't want to be with him anymore, but I just couldn't break it off. I was terrified of what would happen. And by letting me go, he actually helped me. I can now do things that I couldn't with him. I can also meet a guy that I won't feel like I am settleing with. Someone who really is the man of my dreams, the love of my life.

I think whoever is "the one" will apprecaite my ex too. I was looking at the lyrics of this song called "My girl's ex-boyfriend" and basically it is a guy thanking his girlfriend's ex-boyfriend for breaking up with her, because now he has her and he won't let her go. I think the man of my dreams would be thankful for my ex.

That thought alone makes me want to forgive my ex for the hell he put me through. But acutally, the last few months have been amazing. I am learning about myself and God. I have made new friends and have really enjoyed myself. So you could say the hell he put me through has led to my current happiness.

In the end, I have forgiven him. Will I tell him that or thank him for good things I will eventually embrace? Nah. He can tell by happiness I have, the happiness I couldn't have with him.

I will find my Vanessa, my Vince, my Keith

For some reason unknown to myself, my live has become about one thing: men. Well not just men, but I spend much time thinking about potential boyfriends, men who may be interested in me and finding that one.

I have recently decided that I want a boyfriend. I thought for the longest time, I didn't, but I do. At first, I just wanted someone to date inorder to get over my ex, but I am over him and don't need a guy to do that. Anyways, I just want to meet a nice man that I could have a great relationship with.

To be honest, I want to meet my husband. I am only 21 and there is a lot I want to do in my life, but I really want to share it with someone. Although I would love to meet this man tomorrow, I know I will meet him when the time is right. In the mean time, I am gonna date.

So in my last post I mentioned guy X. Well I decided, after much debate, I couldn't date guy X. Don't get me wrong, he is super cute and I loved to talk to him, but I just don't see anything lasting with him. And I just wasn't in to him. I have had this bad habit of being in relationships where I am not happy and not being able to get out, so I thought it was just best if I didn't enter this one. Plus, I am tired of setteling. I need to find a guy that I shouldn't talk myself into liking, and my previous boyfriends were not those guys.

It was weird because I walked away from a guy I actually liked, but it had to be done. Sometimes, I still want to see him, but it is best that we end up as friends. Haven't talked to him (other than a facebook message) since I said we shouldn't see each other anymore.

Now enter guy Y. Guy Y is an interesting character in my life. He has been a friend of mine for awhile and we have flirtacious friendship. We have always teased about hooking up and what not, but it is always harmless. It drove my last boyfriend nuts and he was insanley jealous of Guy Y. Over the past few months, my friends continually tell me that they think he has feelings for me. I thought they were nuts, but now I am wondering. He called me today, and I was excited. I am usually excited when he calls, but even more so today. I have always denied feelings for him, but now I am wondering. I don't think anything would ever happen because he won't ruin friendships, but I still wonder. Who knows, I guess I will just have to see when school starts again.

There are other random men in my life. Ones that hit on me, that I crush on for approximatly a day and the ones that call. It is kinda nice to have all of this male attention. In high school, boys didn't look at me twice. Then I date a boy for two and half years, we broke up and six months later, dated another guy for about a year. Now I am single and loving it, but still waiting for someone to come along. But it has to be the right guy. I will not settle again.

More and more I honestly believe the right guy is out there. A man that is all of my dreams and that can treat me wonderfully. My first boyfriend was a good guy and then the next was pretty good, so I believe my next boyfriend will be wonderful.

A friend was telling me a story about an old friend she ran into the other day. She was talking about her latest boyfriend and how he was different. She said that she has used the "L" word on past boyfriends, but this time she means it more than ever and it feels different. I want to find that and I really truly believe I will.

I have a theroy. I was absoulty devasted when my last boyfriend and I broke up. Everyone thought we were the perfect couple, but perfect couples break up like Tom and Nicole, Brad and Jen and Nick and Jessica. Well one member of that so-called perfect couple, moved on right away, who was also the instigator of the breakup. The other took their time and finally moved onto a better relationship looking like the better person. I think that will happen to me. Like Jen fround Vince, Nicole found Keith and Nick found Vanessa I will find that great guy who will be the best for me.

Until then, I continue to flirt and enjoy comments from 30-year-old men about my pretty smile and nice body.

He's just not that into you

Boys and Girls. Gusy and Gals. Men and Women. They have strange relationships. We all want that one special relationship, but what about the relationships that lead up to that? They aren't usually good, because they end. But what kind of relationships is one supposed to have before they have one?

They must be learning relationships because we need to learn what is good and what is bad inorder to find what they want. Some tell us to stay away from those bad relationships, but is there anyway to avoid them? And should we really, if you are going to get some lesson out of it?

Well I am embarking on what I could consider a learning relationship. I met a guy just over a week ago, we will call him X. We hit it off right away and he seemed like a great guy. He is cute, funny, easy to talk to and has that strangeness about him that I posses. But then because I have awful luck, I learned somethings that weren't so pleasing to his character. Turns out Mr. Wonderful has a little bit of relationship past. He is a player, whatever that term really means. He has led a few girls on at one time and hurt both of them. So much to the fact that both of them contacted me when they heard him and I had been seeing each other. They both said the same thing: stay away from him. One of my closest and trusted friends has repeatedly told me to stay away from him and that if I did get invovled with, she refused to listen about it.

So I was gonna pull the plug on everything, but he brought me back in. He just captivates me and I can't figure out why. I like him, even though I know I shouldn't. A few days ago, he told me he wanted to be in a relationship with me, but doesn't think it will work out for three reasons. 1) He doesn't think I am ready for a relationship. 2) He thinks I could potentially loose friends over him. 3) He knows I have poor impressions of him.

Now all of these reasons are pretty close to the truth. 1) I am getting over a guy I thought I would never have to get over. But I want to try something new and exciting. And thing about X, is that I was initally drawn to happen and that has never happened in any of my previous relationships. 2) A few of my friends do not like him and would disapprove of any involvement I have with him. But they would still love me no matter what. 3) I don't have a good impression of him, but everyday it is changing. He doesn't understand that his actions will either deepend that opinion or erase it.

So what do I do? I like him and wouldn't mind dating him. Would it be problemsome to a few of my friendships? I think so. Could I handle that? I think so.

The last time we talked about it, he said that we should think about what we want and whats in the future for the both of us. I have a year left and he has one and half. We have a lot of the same goals and life ambitions. We both want to move out to San Diego after graduation and would love to spend some time living abroad, preferably in England or Ireland. So it's weird those ambitions are alike, but I am not sure. I don't see an acutal long-term relationship with him. His views on religion are the complete opposite of mine and that bothers me. I am also not sure if he would stay faithful to me. He tells me that if we were dating, he would be true to me and only me. But I still wonder.

The physical poriton is also a concern to me. I won't have sex with him and he respects that. He knows why and he doesn't pressure me, yet, he continues to talk about the two of us being together. He says that he wouldn't have sex with me even if I said ok because he doesn't want to ruin anything between the two of us. I wonder though, if we were in a relationship, would he still be true or would he satisfy his needs somewhere else.

I have debated about him and asked most of my friends what to do. Like I said, some say stay away. Other say take it slow and get to know him better. One of of my friends told me that I need to either date him or completly stop things with him. She is right. I am already invested and if he were to do something, I would get hurt. But I am not sure if I want to stop.

I don't trust him and that worries me. But then again, I don't trust anyone. Not even myself. But with him, things are different. This situtation reminds me of a guy I was seeing a couple of years ago. I knew he liked to hit on girls and I knew that when he was at the bar, he was hitting on girls. With X, I am not sure what he is doing.

In order to make light of this whole situtation, I looked at my trusted book, "He's just not that into you." According to Greg Bernhardt, he isn't into me. But I am really into him?

So now I continue to wait and stress over a guy that I am not sure what to think of. I like him, but will I get hurt. He promises me he won't hurt me, but can I trust him? Again, I am not sure.

Negative Nelly

*Now that my class is over, this blog will become something personal*

Sometimes, there are people in this world you think you know, but you really don't. Today I realized that someone who I thought was sweet is not. This person isn't the great person everyone thinks they are. They purposly try to hurt people, espcially me. And it makes me angry!

Bigger isn't always better

Last night I was having a discussion with a close friend of mine. He was congratulate me on my Aguiar story. He then proceeded to tell me that he doesn't ever believe what he reads in newspapers. He said that most stories are propaganda and rarely contain any truth.

One paper he attacked was the New York Times. He said the paper is nothing more that political propaganda and isn't worth anything. I disagreed with him and told him that there are some good stories that do come out of the Times.

He then mentioned to me that some smaller metro-papers do a better job at reporting. I started to think about that. And he is right.

Look at smaller papers like the Virginian Pilot. That paper works really hard to present a balanced truth, yet it doesn't have the circulation of the times.

I think that is why they work so hard. They try to give their readers something they can hold on to, and that makes them great papers. I guess bigger isn't always better.

Couric to move to CBS

Lately, one of the biggest stories in media is whether Katie Couric will move to CBS when her NBC contract ends in May. Couric has been recruited by CBS for nearly a year to replace Dan Rather as the nightly news anchor.

Many in the media believe that Couric will take the position and give up her co-anchor sport on NBC's morning show.

I have always admired Katie Couric and her work as a journalist. She is very diligent and knows how to ask the tough questions. But her move upsets me.

NBC has been very loyal to Couric and is partly responsible for her becoming the superstar journalist that she is. Why would she leave the network that has given her so much?

There are many reasons probably, like money and higher status position. I refuse to believe that Katie Couric, of all journalists, could be bought out, but I am afraid that is what happening.

This is just a reminder that journalism isn't always about reporting the news. It can be a ruthless, selfish business that anyone can get caught up in.

But the nightly anchor position is "ideal" job in broadcast journalism and I can see how Couric would jump at the opportunity. And NBC will probably not be hiring a new night anchor since Brian Williams replaced Tom Brokaw last year and will most likely be in that position for several more years.

I would like to see Couric stay at NBC but I think the money and position will win her over.

To Collegian or not to Collegian?

When I first came to SDSU, my only dream was to work for the SDSU Collegian. The summer before my freshman year, I sent an email to the managing editor telling him how interested I was in writing for the newspaper. As soon as I got to campus, I went down to the office and filled out my application. By the third issue, I had my first story.

At first working for the Collegian seemed like such an honor. I was asked to be a front page reporter and I felt like I was getting some real experience. By the end of my freshman year, the editor-in-chief encouraged me to apply for a section editor position. I did and was selected as the campus editor for the following year.

I was super excited. This is exactly what I wanted, but sooner that I an expected. I thought I would have to wait for a few more years until I became an editor.

Soon the glory ran off, and being an editor became a major pain. I was working 20-30 hours a week. I felt like I was in the office way more than anyone else, including some of the executive editors. But I kept working really hard. I wrote 3 to 4 stories a week, in addition to designing my pages.

Then in December, I was offered the managing editor position. I was scared, but I took it. That is when my vision of the Collegian turned ugly. I started to really see the newspapers problems, worse yet, realize there wasn't much I could do about it. I tried to make it a good paper, but something was always blocking me.

I used to come home after our weekly meetings and cry and cry. I soon stopped putting so much time and effort into it, because my sweat wasn't paying off.

At about this time, the SA was taking editor-in-chief applications for the following year. Many professors, students, alumni and even President Peggy Miller encouraged me to apply. All of them said they want me to do it, but I just couldn't. My passion had ran out a long time ago.

Although I applied, I turned down the position in order to take an internship with the Legislature. That is when Jeremy Fugelberg and I began lobbying to bring in a consultant.

I worked on the consultant issue for a while and was eager with the results. I slowly turned my back on the Collegian, mainly to personnel problems. But I still love that newspaper.

Last week was the deadline for next year's editor-in-chief, and even though I was approached by professors and student leaders, I didn't turn in my application. It was filled out, but it didn't make it to the office. Why? Because I don't want it.

I love the Collegian and do want to make it a better newspaper, but I have realized I don't want to go into newspapers. So why give up a great job at Daktronics to work my butt off in a job I don't want?


So I have decided to apply for the managing position, even though I am not sure I want that either. I made a commitment that I would come back my senior year and I will follow through with that, but I am not sure if it is what I really want. The managing position will allow me to still work at Daktronics, so that is a bonus. But I am not sure if I am up to the task again.

I guess I will try it. I really am not sure where I stand with the Collegian and how I want to be involved, but I don't know what else to do. Part of me wants to go in there and work hard to create a great newspaper and the other half wants me to move on without the Collegian.

I really don't know what to do. Maybe I'll never know.

News or Editorial

Today, the Argus Leader's main story was about South Dakota's missed opportunity of wind energy. It talked about how some are upset that South Dakota hasn't developed wind energy because it is a good investment and it would create a lot of jobs.

I for one think wind energy is a great idea and I am disappointed in our government because this state hasn't really studied it. I think it would bring many great things to South Dakota and is something that we should be looking at.

The Argus Leader did a good job of showing the public how the state is passing up wind energy, but they did it the wrong way. Although the story contained good sources and facts, it seemed very biased. The author was trying to prove a point, not just explain a situtation.

I understand that when you feel strongly about something you want others to see your point of view, but the Argus made a big mistake. It's stories like this that make readers feel like newspapers are trying to tell them how to think, because that is what this story was doing.

You can write an editorial or analysis, but leave the main Sunday story for facts.

Writing to prove a point

I am not good with the spoken word. I often jumble what I am saying and talk too fast so that people don't understand me. I am not perfect at the written word, but I am able to express myself a little more that way.

Sometimes I feel so passionately about something that the only way I can get through to people is by writing. That is why I like column writing. I have written some really personal columns that talked about my battle with an easting disorder, dealing with a loved in Iraq and my hardships of growing up.

In order to do this, you have to use creative and captivating words. Word choice is crucial in getting people's attention. And the way you write as to be flowing and easy to read.

I ask you to read this column by Kevin Woster, http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2006/03/17/news/top/news02.txt. He does an amazing job of telling people how great the little town of Pierre really is. And he did so with beautiful writing.

I yearn to write like this, to grab a story and make something wonderful out of it. Hopefully, I can write columns like this someday.

It's worth it

The past two months have been rough for me journalistically. I worked many 10-hour days in unpleasant working conditions, often writing stories about subjects I didn't even know existed. I often asked myself why do I put myself through this much tortue and this much stress for little benefits and littler pay. Today I found my anwser.

In today's Argus Leader, Randy Hascall wrote an incredible story about two wrestlers who were each other's biggest rivals and went head to head in the state championship while recovering from the lose of a loved one.

The story was so inspiring and full of emotion, not to mention Hascall did an incredible job writing it. I teared up many times while reading the story and about lost it in the the Yeager Lobby as I read the final sentence. I am a journalist because of stories like this.

In my journalism career, I hope to tell amazing tales such as this one. I want to write about someone's heroic tale and I want to write about it well. If I could have my ideal job, it would be traveling the country and telling the different stories of the folks I encounter.

I enjoy writing stories like this because it forces me to be creative and step out of the box. It forces me to write well in order to give the subject justice. Writing a news story isn't hard, anybody can write one. But it takes a great deal of talent to write a beautiful feature story. And that is what I want to do.

When times get tough and I am sick of writing the same old news story, I remember the good feature stories I wrote. Because in order to be able to write feature stories, you have to start with the hard news. And to me, it's worth it.

Touch them all Kirby Puckett

Yesterday, one of baseball's greatest players was remembered in the arena that he became famous. Yesterday, the Minnesota Twins said goodbye to the best player to ever grace the Metrodome. Yesterday, the world honored Kirby Puckett.

Kirby's death was hard for me. I am not by any means a Twins fan or a baseball fan for that matter, but I have known Kirby all my life.

My father is probably one of the biggest baseball fans and has loved Kirby since he took the field in 1984, seven months before I was born. 14 months later, another Kirby fan was born into my family, my brother Chris. My dad and brother loved Kirby and would talk about him all the time. They had Kirby posters, baseball cards and any other types of memobrila they could get their hands on.

I was about 6 when I first saw Kirby play. I can't tell you how he played that game or who the Twins even played, but I was amazed by him. My dad's and brother's obession with this ball player had installed his stardome in my head and I knew he was great.

The thing I loved about Kirby is that he always was smiling. I never remember him being a poor sport and I never remember him complaining about his pay. But that centerfielder always was happy because he got to play the game.

I remember the day Kirby retired, my dad and brother were devestated to see the Twins go on with out him. And I guess, I kinda was too. I have been to several Twins games since he retired, and the team just isn't the same without him, no matter how cute Joe Mauer is.

The day he died, my heart sank. It felt like a family member had died and I wish I could have been at the Metrodome yesterday to say goodbye.

I will always remember the joy on dad's and brother's face when he was up to bat. Kirby Puckett may be gone, but I will never forget the smile on #34's face when he ran from the dugout to centerfield.

The switch

This week I went back to my job at Daktronics in the marketing sales and service department. One of my major responsibilities is writing news release. I am one of three who has strong writing skills my department so I am given many releases.

While I was gone, they didn't have much time to write many releases so I for the first few weeks I have to get them caught up. Writing news releases has always been for me because I get to be very creative with my language without being worried about fairness.

When I started to write my first release, I had a hard time of creating something that wasn't boring. I couldn't figure out then it hit me.

I just spent two months writing stories for the Legislature and working very diligently to keep things unbiased, now I have to switch. And it is really hard to get used to.

I remember a conversation we had in the news room how it can be hard to switch from public relations to news writing and vice versus, kind of like a baseball player trying to play softball. All the rules you learned in news writing are completely thrown out in public relations. And it can be difficult. I guess that is why there is such animosity between the news and public relations fields.

Right now, I have many barriers that have to be broken for me to write a good news release. It's hard but I am sure that I will get used to it after a couple of releases.

The wacky newsroom

Being in the newspaper business can suck. Things get stressful and newsrooms can be tense. But sometimes between that tension lies a little craziness.

I have worked for four different newspapers and spent many, many long hours in those four different newsrooms. Those four newsrooms contained different people and different capabilities.

The time I spent in the newsroom was great and was accompanied by stress. I cried, flipped out, swore, broke things and got upset in the newsroom in front of my collegues. Somedays, the thought of walking into that room gave me chills. But there was always a good reason to be there.

No, it wasn't my enthusiasim to report the news or the fact that I would be making the big bucks. It was the people.

In the four newsrooms I have worked in I have met friends, a significant other and mentors. I laughed and cried with them. I learned and grew from them. Some of my favorite moments were spent in those newsrooms.

The lifelong jokes and friendships that are created in the newsroom make this job better than others. It's because of my experience in the newsroom, I love doing this job.

News Geek

I like to consider myself a news geek. Why? Because I love the news.

My homepage is www.nytimes.com. I recieve the New York Times, Argus Leader, SDSU Collegian and USD Volant headlines in the mail. One of my joys is the Sunday Newspaper. I was so thrilled when my gym added TVs so that I could run and watch the nightly news. But I still don't read the newspaper enough.

There is a lot of major things that go on in the world that I don't know about, yet I know more than others because it is something I am interested in. I do believe that I am not as informed as a journalism student should be and I do try. But between work and school, it is hard to read the newspaper or even watch a half-hour program.

Technology has made it easy for us to get news at the click of a button, but why does much of society, including, don't take advantage of it as we should? Maybe people are more concerned about spending time with family than reading the newspaper. Maybe they have to work two jobs and just don't have the time. Or they possibly don't care.

I am a firm believer that news is very important and that everyone should receive some sort of daily news, but not everyone cares. And our job as journalists is to make them care. How do we do that? That is a question I think all journalists struggle to find the anwser.

And the winner goes to...

As I watched part of the pre-show for the Academy Awards, someone mentioned that each year at the awards there is over 1400 journalists that come to scope out the show. That number intrigued me.

If you figured that some sources of medica have two to three journalists covering the event, that means they probalby is close to 1200 types of media that cover the event first hand. Some of those are wire services so that its possible that every type of media has access to some type of Oscar coverage.

This makes me realize how important entertainment and entertainment gossip is to our culture.
For some reason, our society's obession with pop culture upsets me. There are millions of people suffering as we speak and but tomorrow's headlines will be about whose dress was the ugliest. Why is that? Because those headlines make money.

I hope to never get into entertainment reporting, because I want to make a difference with my writing. And entertainment reporting is not the way to do that.

It may make money, but I would rather starve in order to help people.

Dunzo

Well I finished my internship this week. The last few weeks of this have been grueling and I have been putting in a lot of overtime. So I am glad it is done.

But I am also glad I had the chance to do this. I have learned more about journalism than in my three years at SDSU. I have a better appreciation and understanding of this field. I guess that is why internships are required.

I also enjoyed this internship because I met some amazing people. I met many great journalists and state leaders who will be excellent contacts for me in the future.

Overall, it was a great experience and I learned a lot about journalism, state government and the real world.

This internship has really made me appreciate being young and a college student. The real world is tough and I now realize I can wait to get in to it.

Life Changes

Forever, I thought I wanted to move to the east coast and work a major newspaper. That has always been my dream and yesterday, I realized that that dream is gone.

I recently had an upsetting event in my life that has forced me to look at my life and the direction that I am going in. This fall was very hard for because I didn't know where I was going or what I wanted to do. But I am starting realize that what I thought I wanted isn't what I really want.

Last May, I got a job working in the marketing department of Daktronics. This was the first time I ever really did public relations work so I was skeptical of whether I would like it. I really seemed to like my job there but continued to think I would work in newspapers after I graduated.

My internship in Pierre has taught me that although I like writing for newspapers, I am not completely happy. As my internship ends, I am really excited to get back to Daktronics.

I like public relations, although in newspapers, it is considered the "dark side." I am happier and I love what I do. I am not as stressed and I want to succeed more.

Yesterday I had another revelation. I don't want to go to the east coast. I thought it would be exciting and thrilling, but I think I can find what I want around the midwest. I do love cities, but I also love driving by fields and farms on a summer day. And this is where my family is. I don't want to be a five hour plane ride away from them. I just don't. I have started to think I could be happier living in Chicago or Minneapolis, maybe even Montana.

I know I have a lot of self-discovering to do, but it is kinda fun.

Creative Investigating

I have had my first taste of true investigating reporting.

A few nights ago, I came home from work at around 7:15. My dad seemed anxious and I asked him what was up. He said the Pierre Police had been acting strange the whole day, but he wasn't sure why. They wouldn't tell him anything. We have a scanner at my house and my dad heard something about an investigation on Riverrim Road, so he went to check it out.

While he was gone, my mom called me. She was at her second job where she works in the Wal-Mart photo lab. She said one of her managers was taken out in hand-cuffs earlier that night and she wondered if my dad had heard anything about it. I said he was gone and she said she would call back later.

My dad came home and said something is up. They had the forensic department scanning a lot and the entire area was tapped off.

A little why later my mom came home. She told my dad what had happened and decided to look up his address. His house was on Riverrim Road. My dad said he better not go back out there because he had droven by twice and the police department already know my dad's car.

So my mom and I went. While she drove by, I scanned the scene. I could see into the house and I noticed there were several people in the garage. There were a few cars outside but not too many for it to look unusual.

When we got home I told my dad about what I saw. He said that while we were out he had received a call that the people have been put on alert to look for a body in garbage cans. So my dad called the state's attorney, but he wouldn't say anything. About 20 minutes later, my dad got a call and all they told him is that the Pierre and Fort Pierre Police Departments and the Department of Criminal Investigation is doing an on-going investigation.

My dad was really excited because he was the first on the story, but he would have to wait until 8:30 a.m. for more information.

It felt really exciteng to now that we were on the heals of potentially big story.

That next day, the arrested man was charged with first degree murder and the found his wife's body in a still basin south of town.

To me, it was just an exciting story and it made you really appreciate journalism.

My 3

I think everyone need's sometype of inspiration in their work. Well, I have three. These three journalists I look up to inspire me to work harder and be the best journalist I can. Here are the three:

Katie Couric- I absoutley adore her. She is such an amazing journalist and is so determined to get the truth. She has been know to ask the tough questions and I admire her for that. The first time I was inspired by her was when watching a documentary about her. It talked about a time when she was getting a tour of the White House with Mrs. Bush (the first Mrs. Bush) and in walked President Bush. Instead of saying hi to him, she began questioning him about foregin policy. I was so inspired by her ability to switch topic and put him in the hot spot without breaking a sweat. I try to remember that when I have a tough interview or when a big story comes up.

Terry Woster- I have always known Terry because he sang at my church. I never realized what kind of writer he was until he wrote a column about cross country. I was on the cross country so my dad showed me the column. Right then, I fell in love with his writing. He is such a charsmatic writer and he makes look easy. He can write about anything and capture audiences of all types. I currently work in the same office as him and I still am amazed at his ability to cover a story unlike anyone else.

My dad- My biggest inspiration is my dad. He has taught me most of things I know about journalism and is the biggest reason why I am going into this buisness. I know he is always supporting and encouraging me. Anytime I have a question or a fustration he is there with an anwser. I wouldn't be a journalist without him.