This week, some members of the Torch went to Washington D.C. for MediaFest 2022, and as I sit in my hotel bar writing this column, I can’t tell you how done I feel with my undergraduate degree and how much I’m ready to move on with my life.
I have had a spectacular time in college so far, even through the COVID-19 pandemic. I was still able to make the best of it, and I have some days I’ll never forget. But today, as I sit with a little over a semester and a half left at Ferris, the fact that I’m ready to take on the world has never been more apparent.
While I don’t know exactly what’s next for me, I know I have dreams that are rubbing shoulders with the planets in space. I’m looking forward to simply reporting for a publication again. I love the work I get to do at the Torch, but having the opportunity to be one with the words again is something I’m really looking forward to.
I’m currently in this odd limbo where I have completed all of my major courses, but I still need more credits to graduate, and it is ever so slightly killing me. I want to spend every waking moment on journalism these days. That’s why I love being editor in chief; I am always creatively working to solve work problems or am working on the cream of the crop stories.
Class just feels like a chore at this point. While I am learning a lot, it’s not exactly the journalism courses that I miss from years past. I will say that this feeling of certainty in my career is an overwhelmingly nice feeling, though. I know I’m doing exactly what I’m meant to be doing, and, my god, that gives me a grin so big that I just can’t seem to wipe it off my face when I’m writing.
Looking forward, I have so many avenues I could take. I am fascinated by politics and anything to do with the government and would love to pick it apart point for point for a story. On the other hand, technology journalism is one of the main things that pushed me towards the craft. I hope to soon bump elbows with childhood icons like Michael Fisher or Florence Ion, renowned tech journalists I have been following since I was 10 years old.
In the meantime, I plan to keep up the fast-paced work here at the Torch and use my remaining elective credits to build up and build out my knowledge to make myself the most well rounded person that I can be. Just because I know what I want to be doing doesn’t mean I can’t find use in a wide variety of other courses.
Everything from intercultural communications to prep me for the moment when I leave the U.S., to small group decision making for when I chose to take on a project like the keynote speakers at Mediafest 2022. While I occasionally may feel like I’m spinning my wheels, I’m doing my best to bide my time and make the most out of what’s left for me here at Ferris.