It first hit me during Spring Break.
Up until that time I had been too consumed in my school work and job search to think much about it. I knew that it was just a few months away, but for the time being I had more pressing matters on my mind. During my week off I was finally struck by relevance of my impending graduation.
My formal education comes to a close next week. With the exception of the year off I took after high school, I've spent the past 18 years of my life in the classroom. Now all that's separating me from my bachelor's degree are a few exams and a project for my Journalism 413 class.
The past four years have been an academic and journalistic marathon. When I wasn't in class I was usually making phone calls or interviewing sources for the Daily News. I'd try to catch a break on Saturdays, but by Sunday afternoon I was busy typing up Monday's assignments.
I knew that someday I'd look back upon the chaos of my school years in a positive light, but most of the time, I just wanted to take a nap.
But I also fell in love with my chosen major. I knew from the beginning that I wanted to be writer, but it was over the past four years that I learned to be a reporter. Journalism is more than the art of gathering facts. It is a craft that involves exploring new ideas, communicating with people and setting a public agenda. And above it is a reporter's duty to tell the truth. The writer who prints a falsehood has failed.
I hope eventually to work in some capacity with features or entertainment writing, but as long as I have a reporter's notebook in hand I'll be happy.
Those long nights stuck to a keyboard, staring into a computer screen, surviving on coffee and stale candy are finally beginning to pay off. The feeling is good, especially considering that my alternate fate could have involved assembling outdoor equipment for $8 an hour, which is what I did after high school.
In retrospect, taking a year off from school was the best decision I ever made, because the experience made me realize the difficulty of making a living in the "real world." The monotony of the assembly line gave me the motivation I needed to pursue something more exciting.
My parents also played a great role in that. As immigrants from Mexico, with little schooling, they viewed education as the key for me and my sister (who will be coming to Ball State next year) to carve out a decent, respectable existence for ourselves. They made plenty of sacrifices so we wouldn't have to, and I cannot thank them enough for shouldering so much of the burden for me to go to school. I can only hope to one day be able to repay them.
I can't say I don't have any regrets, but for the most part, I'm happy with how everything turned out. If the end result is fine, there's no use in dwelling over the regrets. I just have to consider my lessons and take them with me into the future.
Write to Robert at
rclopez@bsu.edu
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