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Journalism: 'More than' dodging flying stress balls

July 22, 2009|Laura Butler

It's hard to believe I've already been sitting at this desk in The Journal newsroom for 10 weeks. And it's a little bittersweet to think this will be my last week here.

Sitting in this chair, I've learned a lot. I learned things like how to avoid a stress ball flying over the cubicle wall, how to tell the best Michael Jackson jokes, how to translate handwriting from the police citations and eventually how to correctly use the words, "more than."

But throughout the past 10 weeks, I did the majority of my learning when I wasn't in my chair. I came into this internship wanting tangible, field experience, and I got a healthy dose of it, gaining a deeper appreciation for and understanding of community journalism.

I enjoyed meeting some of the characters in the story of Jessamine County. I won't quickly forget the time I spent with families in Wesley Village, even those I hadn't planned on meeting (thanks for the hospitality though Bob and Betty). Those couples gave me some seasoned advice about marriage and the meaning of life and what it takes to build a pipe organ.

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I saw families enjoying time together at the county fair and widows remembering their loved ones at Camp Nelson's Memorial Day ceremony. I strapped on fire-fighting gear and learned to spray a fire hose and cranked open a fire hydrant.

I learned more about Henry Ford's Model A in one afternoon than I ever would've read in a book on my own, spent some quality time with the horses at the Kentucky Equine Humane Center and shared some smiles and said a prayer with cancer survivors at the Jessamine County Relay for Life.

Through the lenses of the Journal's Canon cameras I grew to love and desperately wish I owned, I saw faces filled with laughter, affection, courage, congeniality, pain and solemnity. I shook the hands of numerous citizens of Nicholasville and Wilmore and gained some new friends.

So after 10 weeks of both fun and hard work, I'd just like to say, a big "Thank you" to the folks of Jessamine County. Thank you for the lessons you taught me, the experiences you've given me and the Bruster's you fed me.

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