I have. I had four years of journalism. I started as a staff member of the newspaper, "The Creek's Current", then I was the sports editor of the newspaper. My junior year I was the sports section editor of the yearbook. My senior year I was the editor of the yearbook. I am not a grammarian and quite frankly I'm pretty rotten at grammar. I had a great Journalism teacher in Mr. Terry McCartin, who told me even Stephen King has an Editor! My teacher was my editor and the 1991 yearbook went on to win many awards like previous years had.
The 1991 Silver Creek High School Yearbook: Moving in the Right Direction Volume 47
Why was Journalism so important? Well that is a great question. In everything I do as a nurse I write. I began writing notes in patients charts, back when everything was narrative. I wrote sentences and make thoughtful remarks. This was useful many times over. Later I created a newsletter for the Emergency Department Staff every month. It included writing stories and taking pictures. As I moved into management I wrote evaluations. Then I was able to write some articles for publication.
Knox, C & Smith, A (2008) HIPAA and the information age. OR Nurse June Volume 2, Issue 6: 56
Knox, C & Smith, A (2007) Handhelds and HIPAA, Nurse Manager. June 38;(6): 38-40
Knox, C & Vereb, J (2005) Allow natural death: a more humane approach to discussing end-of-life directives. Journal of Emergency Nursing. Dec; 31(6):560-1
As I continue through my career I write polices and procedures, memorandums, standard operating procedures, etc. I am paid to peer review articles by other nurses for nursing magazines.
Besides the writing I take pictures. Taking pictures is a hobby. When you get a great picture of a kid playing a sport like football it is so much fun. I couldn't handle the stress of taking wedding pictures. I just do the fun stuff. Also, I lead meetings at work and have leadership roles in community groups.
How does this all take me back to Journalism? Well I learned to write in journalism. Not only write but be creative. I remember getting back an article that was drenched in the dreaded red pen. After 4 years you finally get it and then one day you get back an article with very little red ink on it! We also had to take pictures. We learned how to take action shots. It was so awesome to see them in the paper and yearbook. As an adult it is fun taking pictures and knowing how to take them, which I learned in journalism. Also we had to sell ads in the yearbook. We had to go around to businesses and sell them and then design the ads. It was a great experience learning to approach business leaders and ask for their business. You have to be prepared at work when you make a presentation and selling ads helped me.
My journalism experience was top notch. I was able to go to a journalism conference at Franklin College my senior year and to the IU School of Journalism camp the summer before my senior year. I truly feel like Journalism has made a difference in my life.
What about you? Did any of your High School classes leave a lasting impression?
Very well said. You are remarkable that is no doubt. Schooling is a learning experience and you are using your learning experiences to help you make your way through life.
ReplyDeleteBack in the 50's/60's females were trained and taught how to be a homemaker. So, I love to cook, bake and sew...my classes influenced me that way.