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Connell
The population of Madill and the enrollment at my school, the University of Tulsa, might be similar (3,931 and 4,412, respectively), but the experience I have had the privilege of receiving through my internship has taught me about the real-world of journalism on a much greater magnitude than my college newspaper.
Through my internship, I have been given opportunities to write so many diverse stories, from talking to Oklahoma legislators and Congressmen to covering turtle races to writing about medicine in rural Oklahoma.
In all of these articles, I learned something about my future career.
One of these articles was my article about the over-crowded Madill Animal Shelter.
I went into this shelter thinking I was going to be covering a few cute pet features.
Once I saw the shelter, I realized there was a greater problem of overpopulation in the community and that the city was considering becoming a kill shelter to fix this problem.
The Madill Record published my story on their Facebook page, causing a huge increase in interest about this problem that many citizens were previously oblivious to.
The post has reached almost forty-five thousand people to date, with more than 500 shares and more than 250 likes and reactions.
This is now the second-most reached post on the Madill Record’s Facebook.
Immediately, the Animal Shelter began increasing their social media presence.
A few weeks later, the city council talked about other possible solutions for this problem, such as transporting the pets to another facility.
This story showed me to go into every interview with fresh eyes and a willingness to derail your topic.
I also saw how much a difference one little article has the opportunity to make.
My article and our subsequent pet features carries the potential to save animals’ lives and give residents the possibility for a new furry friend.
Another article that will stay with me is my article about the Southern Oklahoma LGBTQ+ group.
Gay rights is one of my passions, but I knew Marshall County is generally more conservative and might not react well to this issue.
However, I took a chance and pitched the article about this amazing group for Pride month and got my editor’s approval.
The two people in the group that I interviewed for this article told me that the Madill Record is the first print to cover them. One of the folks was so proud of the highlight that they bought 15 copies to give out in their next meeting.
I learned to take a chance on something you are passionate about, even if you might receive backlash or expect your pitch to be rejected.
Even if one person on the LGBTQ+ spectrum sees it and feels seen it is worth any potential backlash.
My coworkers themselves have been invaluable to my growth.
My first day, I learned the importance of adapting. All but one of the staff has worked at the Madill Record for less than a year.
With this upheaval comes trying new solutions to old problems, and a few hours into my first day of editing we changed the system of storing our files which I had just been taught a few hours before.
I thank all of my coworkers’ patience while I learned to acclimate to this and our many other changes.
The biggest thing I have learned from my experience, as cheesy as it sounds, is that your newspaper is your family.
One of the first weeks, our advertising gal, Connie, went out of her way to make a supermarket run so that I would have Aleve on a bad pain day. Another time, my boss, Matt Caban, stood up for me during backlash whenever I misspelled someone’s name in an article, while also instilling in me to double and triple check names before publishing.
This close-knit feeling of a newspaper staff, along with the knowledge that my work can create change, enforces the idea that this is something I want to do for the rest of my life.
I am so grateful to my staff for the support and to the Oklahoma Newspaper Foundation for funding such an invaluable experience.