Taking Risks

The famous hockey player Wayne Gretzky once said: "You miss one hundred percent of the shots you don't take." When it comes to putting together our newscasts, we've pretty much had to abide by this philosophy in order to better our shows every week. 

Back in September, our class consisted of a random assortment of people who probably had very little in common other than a passion for journalism and a good work ethic. We were producing newbies, and I can't speak for the group, but I was terrified to produce my first full show. 

Now, nearly a semester later, we are no longer an odd incohesive bunch. We have come to know each other well and trust each other's abilities. We have become confident in the newsroom and our skills are much improved. 

And with this improvement, we have also become more comfortable when it comes to taking risks and being creative. Once I mastered the basics, I pushed myself to try new things outside of my comfort zone. As lead producer last week, I put one of our anchors on the chroma key to do a chunk of Facebook related stories. Bringing an anchor away from the desk and to the chroma key changed up the feel of the show and it suddenly became more interactive.

What I've learned is that trying new things is the only way you can improve. Of course, there's always room for more growth but my learning curve this semester has already been greater than I could have ever imagined.