Despite the fact that both the third and fourth days of this remarkable adventure are both action-filled and full of exciting information, I have to combine the two days into one blog post so that I can sleep soundly tonight!
Yesterday, the third day of the conference, was one that I was looking forward to for a long time. I had the privilege of hearing influential journalist speak at the National Press Club. While some say that this society has lost value, I strongly disagree. Walking through those doors was magical, and knowing that so many inspirational people, not exclusively journalists, have walked through those doors just like I did, was exhilerating.
I intend to come back to this post to go into more detail within the next week as the experience settles in more. There are many jobs that I have considered in this general field: foreign correspondent, White House correspondent, Press Secretary, Senator, President, the list goes on. While Ms. Leinwand had made her case that being a foreign correspondent was the perfect job for me the previous night, I was very excited to hear from two Chief White House correspondents, Chuck Todd from MSNBC, and Jessica Yellin from CNN, accompanied by a POLITCO writer Jonathan Martin. The way they described writing news that effects political decisions directly, was fascinating. Their predictions for the future of journalism, their personal stories of achievements, and their general passion for the jobs, was inspiring. I was so honored to have them share their insights with me, as well as my peers, and their knowledge of journalism influenced me to strive for more, and to work even harder to get a job in the journalism and political fields.
Next came Hoda. Ms. Hoda Kotb is a pistol to say the least. I had no idea what a following she had! I had started reading her book about a week ago and found myself loving every minute of it. She sympathized with her audience, was simple and direct, and made me laugh with every page. She is the definition of a self-starter, getting rejected 27 times for her first job, completely slaughtering her first attempt at anchoring the evening news, and so on and so forth. However, now she has two incredible jobs at NBC, working for Dateline and the Fourth Hour of NBC’s Today with Kathie Lee Gifford. Surviving breast cancer and a divorce in one year seem like minor speed bumps in her incredible life. She is an inspiration for a girl like me, with a lot of self doubt. She is who she is because of her strength and her honesty, and that is something I admire so greatly in a person.
As it is getting late here, and tomorrow I have a HUGE day ahead of me, I will report on the fourth and fifth days tomorrow!
