You never know what you had until its gone

Its a week and one day since I completed my summer internship at The Sidney Daily News and I miss it like crazy already. Okay, I missed it the day after I moved away from Sidney, but now I really miss it. I don't miss the atmosphere of the office or the crazy hours I had to work or other petty and insignificant things I grew to dislike.
Things I miss:
--taking the Nikon D200 (which I came to love) out every day and take pictures. Sure, I love my Nikon D50 and all, but I grew so attached to the D200 it was hard to let go of. But like I have learned and have been told, a great photographer can make great pictures with any equipment given to them.

--having a busy day of work doing something I truly enjoy. I never thought that I would actually miss working, but now that I do not have much to do with days, I am even more motivated to get a job with a newspaper so I can do something I love. I really do not want to settle with a job that I do not enjoy and did not go to school for just to pay my bills. After today, I have even more motivation to secure a job for myself because I am a proud owner of a new car. While I was fortunate enough to have my dad pay for my car, I am completely responsible now for my insurance, plates and any mantanience the car may need in the future. Not to mention gas, which is now over $3/gallon.

But of all the things about my summer at the SDN, I miss the opportunity to interact with the community and share peoples' stories with the rest of Shelby County most of all. It took the length of my internship and two days of packing and moving back to Indiana for me to realize that good photojournalism can be produced at any type of newspaper and a community newspaper can offer more than I thought. I realized while driving west on U.S. 33 toward Indiana listening to Hanson's new cd "The Walk." It was during the song "Your Illusion" and hearing the lines "You've got me wrapped up in your illusion / I keep on trying to clear the confusion" everything clicked. The illusion that I kept tucked in my back pocket all summer of this textbook definition cleared away and I understood what it meant in the scope of community journalism. Just because a newspaper has a strong local focus, what I came to call "hyper local," does not lessen the journalistic value of the work the paper produces. So the news coming from Sidney and Shelby County on most days is not the textbook definition of "general" or "hard" news, but it doesn't mean the information published on the newsprint is not important to people in Shelby County. A picture of a cute kid blowing bubbles at a picnic over the weekend or taking a photograph of a club member at their 92nd surprise birthday party may not be considered newsworthy in a big metro newspaper, but in a small community newspaper it matters to people. And another great thing I realized in a moment of clarity: the readers of the newspaper take the time and express their gratitude of the work the staff of the SDN produces. Knowing that a community like Shelby County appreciates the dedication to the community has made me want to work for a community newspaper where I know my work will be appreciated by those who see my photos and the stories I share may reach and affect others in ways that may not in a larger city. A good photojournalist can tell the stories of a community no matter the size, just has to be hungry enough to get out and hunt for the story. I am glad my ignorant illusion was lifted through my internship in Sidney because I found that I do want to work for a newspaper with a strong local focus.

I am ready to work at a newspaper where I can dig my heels into, get dirty and share some amazing stories and take some great pictures.


Oh, I almost forgot one other thing I miss. I miss the camaraderie my boss and I developed. I miss our chats in the office that end up going on longer than expected causing us to stay later at the office than expected or distracting us from getting a lot done. I miss our random jokes and hilarious one-liners (mostly from me) that end up written down on a sticky note and posted on the wall of her desk ("WWJJD: What Would Jim Johnson do?" "He's not a rock, he's a more like Jell-O mold"). I also miss the Co-Editkit day-by-day calendar that some how appropriately summed up one of our lives on a given day. I definitely know that my time at the SDN would not have been half as enjoyable if it weren't for the camaraderie between us. So for that Erin, I am forever grateful.

Oh, and thanks for introducing me to the best dose of sanity that can help bring light and humor to a crazy day:

(A fitting choice in honor of the king of typos on assignment sheets ;-))