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Chapter 10: Treading Uncharted Water With a Smile

It’s been about a month since I made my New Years resolutions in the last chapter of Campus Chronicles, and I am proud to say that I have faithfully kept two of them.

I’m currently on top of my course readings – resolution number two – and have ventured out of the realm of the basketball court in my writing, which is resolution number three. (I’m still working on the sleeping part.)

However, for this entry, I wanted to focus on a handful of things that I did this month that, for me, have reinforced the idea that going to university is the best decision that I’ve ever made. I’d like to say that many doors have been opened for me, but the truth is that I’ve had to open those doors for myself.

The first mini-accomplishment that I celebrated was submitting my first news story for the Charlatan, Carleton’s weekly student newspaper. I emailed the news editors at the paper and told them I wanted to take a stab at writing for their section, and within about a half an hour I had my first assignment. I’ve finally stepped out of my comfort zone and have started to really challenge myself in my writing.  The new territory is positively terrifying, and I have A LOT to learn about being a good news writer, but it's a start.

Last week, I also covered the MBNA Capital Hoops Classic basketball game between the Carleton Ravens and the University of Ottawa GeeGees for the Charlatan. I know that as a university student I should be able to express myself using proper words but this is the only way I can really decribe the experience:

It was so. Legit.

Myself and two other Charlatan writers were seated in the courtside media seating in the Scotiabank Place arena (where the Ottawa Senators play) during the games. I was responsible for reporting on the outcome of the women’s game as well as contributing to our live blog and updating our Twitter feed – I felt like a real sports journalist.

After the game, I stood in the small group with other members of the media and spoke to the Ravens’ head coach and star players. I was also challenged by my editor to submit my game report within an hour of the final buzzer of the game, so that we could have Capital Hoops coverage in the next day’s print edition of the paper. There was so much to do and not a whole lot of time to do it and I loved it.

In terms of schoolwork, January was a pretty slow month. In the three weeks I have before reading week, however, I’ve got two papers, one paper proposal and two midterms to power through. I can feel the stress and the anxiety coming on, but I couldn’t be happier.

It’s experiences like Capital Hoops that allow me to recognize that I can see myself doing this for the rest of my life. I’ve also come to realize that I can’t wait for these kinds of opportunities to knock on my dorm-room door. I’ve gotta chase ‘em down and make the most of what’s in front of me here at Carleton.