Journalism is a hero's life

A desire to change the world is a strange concept to grasp. It isn't the sort of thing one learns in primary or secondary school. Higher education does not generally offer Change the World 101. So most people tend to think it is a fruitless pursuit. And yet there are individuals who find their way to this internship program, all miraculously sharing this intent and ambition.

Although I have just entered the world that is Chips Quinn, I feel a strange stirring that it is the missing course, the forgotten instruction that so many of us have waited for our entire lives.

Many people wax poetic about changing or saving the world, and some of these people become police officers, politicians, firefighters, teachers, engineers. There are many ways to save the world piece by piece. But to aspire to be a journalist is a two-pronged career goal. It is one-part complete self-absorption. After all, who can deny the pull of seeing your name in print each day, of smugly watching a fellow citizen peruse a newspaper and view your words or photos? Yet, a journalist's main goal is not that someone sees your name; it is that someone feels your work. The ability to be heard is a heavy responsibility, one that requires you to weigh what you say with care. This is a skill acquired with guidance, focus and drive. I believe the directors of Chips Quinn choose students for our drive so that they may focus our efforts and guide us through the very turbulent waters of internships and first jobs. I am grateful to be on the precipice of learning what I need to know to change the world and to be in the presence of so many others who yearn for the same. Journalism is a hard life, but I think it can be a hero's life. After all, I don't believe it's a coincidence that some of the most beloved superheroes were journalists by day. And though I don't have a cape, I do have a camera. I'm starting to believe that might be enough.

-- Tara-Lynne S. Pixley, Spring Scholar, The Greenville (S.C.) News and Florida A&M University