WHATEVER IT TAKES

Why are you driving to Wilmington again?

The question several of my friends asked me on Wednesday night as we sipped out of our He’s Not cups.

I had already driven down to Wilmington twice for a Media Hub story over the past couple of weeks.  It really isn’t that bad of a drive. However, when you’re applying for jobs and balancing other classes and activities, the drive can seem like every bit of two and a half hours.

Wednesday, in class, I talked to my professor about how I felt like I had a hole in my story.  In transcribing my interviews and looking back at my footage, I felt like I was missing something.  I needed something that would tie everything together. Some kind of emotional and passionate soundbite that I hadn’t quite found yet.

I guess in talking to him I was trying to figure out a way out of driving back down there, but we both knew that it needed to happen.  So without batting an eye I called and texted my sources and set up times for me to meet with them in Wilmington the next day.

Which brings me back to Wednesday night with my friends asking me why I had to go back down.  They brought up audio and Skype interviews, which are both viable options. However, I know that if I included a Skype interview, or phone recording I would feel like I didn’t do my best work.  That isn’t going above and beyond. People notice when you go the extra mile, and that’s the kind of person I want to be known as.

I’ve always been raised to do whatever it takes.  Whatever it takes to help a friend, or to get an assignment done.  You always do each and every task put in front of you to the best of your ability and you never complain.  Looking back, I am so thankful that attitude is a part of who I am. I’m especially thankful it’s a part of my mentality now that I’m going in to journalism.

I care about the people I’ve been talking to and interviewing for the last month.  I believe deeply in their mission and the goals they’re trying to accomplish. They deserve to have their story told, and told right.  Most of all, it’s a story that I really wanted to tell.

Even when my sources cancelled on me after I drove down there again, I tried one last time to set up an interview.  I felt in my core that they were the link in my story that I needed. I wanted that sound, and I was going to get it.  On a Sunday evening, I got what I was looking for.

Before this, tenacity wouldn’t be a personality trait that crossed my mind.  However, I realized that I am tenacious, and I’m proud of it. Sometimes that side of me can be a little ridiculous, which is evident in my friends questioning why I’m driving somewhere for the millionth time.  But in this business, if there’s a story I want, or an interview I need, I’m going to get it.