Blogging has taking me years to get used to. The idea of publicizing works that you may look back on and say “Whoa, that was terrible” just did not sit well with me. But I now see these blog entries much like I see this summer — a clue to what the future holds. Anne Lamott calls moments in her past “lily pads” on a trail through the pond of life. My guess is that she calls them that because they are big enough to spend some time on, but they are meant only as a step to something greater. And when you look back, the lily pads look more beautiful than when you first landed on them. And there place on the path is more obvious. In the same manner, these blogs are lily pads on the path to a improved writer.
Like most writers, I hit writer’s block a lot and sometimes I wonder if the type of block I hit is unique. It just seems so individualistic. My block is made up of the thoughts that anything I write has a) been said before or b) doesn’t need to be said because no one wants to hear it. They seem individualized because clearly there are so many books that publishers have said need to be published and readers have bought. Those thoughts are terribly self-deprecating, I know. But most writers’ thoughts are. I am sure I will get through it. But sometimes the wall writers have to scale seems tailored to our faults and fears. While we have similarities, I think our walls morph to our problems. When those personalized walls are surmounted, however, it is clear that writers have conquered more than just their dream to be published.and widely-read.
I am a rising senior at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, double majoring in journalism and political science.
My junior year I was the editor in chief of the campus newspaper, The Baylor Lariat, that has garnered numerous local, state and national awards. I have also worked as a staff writer and news editor for the Lariat during my three years on staff.
I have interned for the Student Press Law Center in Washington, D.C., writing both long- and short-form pieces as a journalism intern. I am a contributor for New York-based BLEEP magazine, writing about media culture.
In the Fall of 2011 I am studying abroad in London, England, where I will also be a journalism intern.
My goals include becoming a breaking news journalist after graduating in May 2012.
