I didn’t want to come back to Pepperdine for my senior year.
There, I said it. It sounds ridiculous. Who wouldn’t want to come back to the beautiful ocean and tight-knit community? Pepperdine is stunning, yet this summer I found something that trumped it all in the corn and soybean field of Illinois of all places.
I started my summer with uncertainty, trying desperately to get a good internship like many Pepperdine students. But I was picky. I didn’t want to get stuck with cliché coffee runs and mundane, boring days at the internship.
I found my internship in Champaign-Urbana, the hometown of the University of Illinois and WCIA 3 News. It’s amazing how everything worked out; all of my worries were so futile.
Don’t get me wrong, it was still terrifying moving to a new city, all alone, to get an apartment by myself for the summer. But from the moment that I got the internship interview, God had already taken care of everything.
It’s amazing looking at myself from the beginning of my internship to the end. I am looking at a different person. I am more confident, more comfortable in my own skin and so satisfied with who I’ve become.
I saw a transformation from a quiet girl with millions of questions to one exuding confidence. The station welcomed me into their small family and slowly I became part of a greater community.
I heard people’s stories in the field, I saw people at their worst and at their best and I became a part of their story. Each day brought a different event. I covered everything from a terrible shooting to a Corvette show to a child in remission throwing out the first pitch for a baseball game.
Journalism is my passion. I ended this summer knowing that I have chosen the right career path for me.
The moment you discover your passion, you will know. It doesn’t have to be television news. It doesn’t even have to be your career. But passion will light a fire in you, and it will become your life. Find what lights up your eyes. Find what inspires you, and you will be satisfied.
So I didn’t want to come back to Pepperdine — it’s true. I was so excited, so enthused by my internship, by what I want to do for the rest of my life, that I was willing to start right then and there. That’s what passion did to me. What will yours do to you?
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Follow Gretchen Andsager on Twitter: @gmandsag
