📣Welcome to the Whinypaluza column called Teenage Tuesdays, written by Rebecca's daughter Ella Greene, who is 16 years old!
➡️Look forward to a new blog from Ella from a teenage perspective on Tuesdays!

Lessons Learned From Shadowing

With keyboard clicks and mic checks, the newsroom was a sea of televisions, computers, and people. Producers, photographers and editors all worked at their computers. 

One computer held a schedule full of little scripts for each part of a 30 minute news broadcast. Tabs and computers shifted across the screen and made the outline of the show. I couldn’t help but be mesmerized by everything I saw (though I had no clue what my face was doing). 

This was my experience shadowing a producer at channel 2. In case you didn’t know, I want to go into broadcast journalism, and I figured talking to as many people in journalism as possible would be the best way to learn more about the field. I couldn’t have been more right. I loved getting to see how a show was planned and learning about the different people that make a news station run. It was all beyond exciting. 

But, there are a few things I learned more than anything else about evaluating future careers from my short experience. 

1. You have to do something that matches who you are

I love to write, plan things, and be on air, all of which lead to loving broadcast journalism. No matter what it is you love, you have to honor it. Whether it’s through a career or hobbies, you should do something that makes you excited and lets you use your strengths . 

2. Working with people is a valuable skill

During the broadcast, the people involved had to be able to communicate and work with each other effectively, and the same holds true for almost any job or goal you try to meet. Collaboration is essential to human life, and nothing gets done if you never communicate with others. 

3. Try to be flexible

The producers could get a new piece of information that changes their show at any moment, and they have to be willing and able to change their scripts. While this lesson applies to almost every aspect of life, broadcasting really proved how paramount flexibility is to success.  I can definitely be better at this, but it’s good to have a plan and be ready to change it. That way, no matter what life throws at you, you’ll be prepared. 

With all the hustle and bustle of life, we all also have to remember to live in the present. I can get so focused on thinking about the future and where I’m going that I forget to feel my feet on the ground and be where I am. When I was in that newsroom, I just kept trying to stay present and take it all in because who knows, I may be back there someday, writing and changing scripts of my own. 

Until next time, 
Ella Greene.

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