Its only been two weeks. Two weeks that have completely altered the life I am accustom to. Not only have I, a sheltered girl from Texas, gotten to explore the historic and important sites of our nation's capitol, Washington D.C. and experience a preview of my future college life, but also, I know how i want to live my life from now on. Learning about the world of communication and journalism has opened my eyes to many doors and even windows I did not see before. I can connect to people from all over the country, and relate to each one of them in unique ways. Bringing me to my point; relating.
Relating to the world is something I would consider extremely difficult, and extremely vital to the field of journalism. There are many people who do not react to stories and news, mostly, because they don't care. Is it possible to make somebody care? To relate to another, one must spark emotions from them. Whether it's anger, guilt, worry, or pride, emotions are the foundation of relating to a person.
Just tonight, we had a TA meeting, and I feel like all of us were really able to relate.
We had a sing-a-long, music provided by two of our very talented guys. Songs including "Why Do You Build Me Up, Buttercup," "Wonder Wall", "Hey soul sister", and "Hey Jude", were sung loud and proud by 15 different people. It was very nice. Very real. As in you could hear emotions in the lyrics, and truth in each chord strummed. Moments that let us reflect and find peace flashed by, and left each one of us smiling and truly happy. The song the sparked MY emotions was "Swing Life Away" by Rise Against. At first I didn't think I knew the song, but I soon found myself singing words as i learned them. Then, the most touching line came up and stopped me in my tracks. "I've got some friends, some that I hardly know
But we've had some times, I wouldn't trade for the world
We chase these days down with talks of the places that we will go." I know I wasn't the only person in the room who smiled and to themselves noted that the song was talking about us; us who had been together at NSLC for several days; us who had traveled from all over the world and become close friends with complete strangers. Even the guitarist added to the end of the line, "That's you guys." And honestly, i can't think of anything more powerful than the feeling that came over me. To think, a simple song, linked together everybody in that room. Over the time we had spent together and with other students in the program, we were able to relate, able to care. We all came from different places, and we're all going different places, but for that moment of complete naked comfort we were all the same.
I plan to have that affect on people. As journalist in the making, I want to reach out and make somebody care; that someone who I once was, not paying attention and not having any interest in the world. I want to speak out and show that person it does matter. I want to relate to somebody, getting them to listen or think twice about anything. If I could relate to just one person, sparking their interest, then we could relate and alter the world.
I realize I'm making this awfully personal, with my use of pronouns and such, but personal is relate-able in my book.
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