I am stronger now because I am walking away from school knowing exactly what want I do and the possible steps I need to take. When I first started at Howard University I was unsure where my journey would lead me. I knew that I wanted to be in front of the camera but I didn’t know what I would be doing. I knew that I loved doing interviews and meeting people hence the start to my show “Meet The People” but how would I get there. I looked at the veteran journalist that knew how to work both the camera and be a one-man band, but again I was nervous I would never learn that skill. However, through my persistence and numerous internships, I found my passion and what I was good at. I was able to walk away with numerous connections and realized that my skill of being an interviewer and meeting people wasn’t just a “me thing” but something that was God ordained. I now look back at my senior capstone and see so much growth from my freshman year self to now. I have been able to write, shoot, and edit some of the best packages and stories that I believe is work that can be shown on news stations. But that strength and confidence in myself have come from a long journey of “no’s” and growth. For that, I am so much stronger.
My past has taught me that not everything in this journey will be easy. There will often be times in which I must “pay my dues” and even face instances that may scar me for the rest of my life. But Instead of dwelling in those no’s and those experiences that may not have been the most rewarding I have to look at them again as growth. The past is the past for a reason because at the end of the day you do not have to repeat it. You learn from it and find a way to jump over those hurdles that may affect your ego or mental state.
My experience at Howard/ this class has taught me is to figure it out. This class was far from easy and stressful sorta describes it. Six credits is absolutely no joke and I will tell you everyone in this class has faced a few battle wounds and wanted to drop out a few times. However, one thing we all can say is that we persevered and we are now in our last week. At this point, I look back at my journey and see that I have grown to be a bounce-back journalist. If you look at my assignments especially at the beginning of packages I was unsure how the story would be told. But having conversations with Prof. Thomas and my mother I have been able to complete some of the coolest stories that I believed challenged me, to continue thinking outside of the box. If one interviewer tells you “no” don’t let it affect you, instead find the next person to interview and COMPLETE THE STORY. Don’t ever tell yourself that the story CANNOT be told, we are a journalist for a reason and this class made me realize that.
I feel most confident when I complete the story. When the story is finally fully edited and I show my friends they say “wow this could really be in the news” or “wow Nayo, you really told that story.” Words like that make me feel like all the blood, sweat and TEARS were worth it. Those hours in the I-lab crying because I was unsure of my direction, but finally seeing the end of the road is the BEST FEELING EVER. I am always confident in my finished story because I know that it wasn’t something that was rushed or poorly planned. I put hours into my work so that I can create some of my best work. So when I finally turn it in, and my professor is pleased that makes me feel the most confident.
My greatest gift is my smile. My smile is truly a gift because it didn’t come cheap, in fact, it cost a little over 1500 dollars to fix my gap. But I promised my parents that unlike my brothers, I would take care of my smile after these braces come off and I realized that my smile means so much to people. Whenever I am on the red carpet or doing interviews people will say “I know you for your big smile” or “Nayo with the pretty smile” “You better show them teeth”. And I have realized that your smile can change anyone’s mood if you are looking stressed people around you will feel the tension. However, if you feel confident in yourself people around you will see your smile and it’s almost contagious. That is my goal when I smile, to at least make the other person comfortable or smile back.
I am so proud of the person I have become on my journey here at Howard. To say the journey was hard is an understatement. But to say that I grew from it truly describes my experience and I wouldn’t change the ups and downs of anything.
Nayo Campbell 