I remember the first time I stepped on a stage was in a Bluffdale production of the musical “Annie” with my sister and my best friend, Kaleigh. We had ratty hair, dust thrown across our faces and big smiles perked from cheek to cheek. It was in that moment, when the final curtain opened, that I knew the life of a storyteller was meant for me.
One of my favorite stories is the 2007 film “Across the Universe.” Jude, the film’s protagonist, gives a line, “It doesn’t matter what you do in life, but rather how you do it.” And so, I lead every day knowing that my “how” is most important for decision-making. But things didn’t quite go as planned at first.
I thought college was going to be different. My high school teachers built it up to be something monumental, life-changing and brand new. I was accepted into the University of Utah’s Actor Training Program and naively thought, “Wow, I’m really moving onto big things here.” However, I was back to square one, learning how to say my vowels correctly and singing golden-age musical theater prose at the early hours of 9 a.m., all in a black box theater space. And while I did participate to the best of my abilities, rather than being excited about building on my knowledge of performance, I took it like a checklist and a chore. I didn’t know how to enjoy performance anymore. I thought about quitting many times and eventually did.
I needed something new. And not just anything, but a community that was outside of the realm I had so long been a part of. That’s when I stumbled upon college radio.
K-UTE Radio, much like theater, was something that changed my entire vision of how I wanted to live my life. Storytelling was still at the core, but it was different. I found a hunger to learn new things that I had been looking for since setting foot on this campus. And the people I became close with also helped me find my sense of curiosity. But it’s not just the hunger or the people. It was about how I did the work that kept me there. I kept passion and curiosity at the core of everything I sought out. And in doing that, I found that my “how” is appreciation. Appreciation not only in my own work, but also for other people’s stories and their struggles, too.
The first thing I learned as I pursued a journalism career was to observe my surroundings. That’s exactly what I did when I began my time with student media. I grew a fond appreciation of my cohort as well as the struggles we overcame, like funding, building the radio from the ground up, collaborating with outside organizations and the list goes on. By appreciating the process, the people and the work, I was able to succeed.
In that success, I became the arts desk editor at The Daily Utah Chronicle and continued to appreciate all the small things, from the late-night conversations with my assistant to the moments I almost pulled my hair out from frustration with my desk. Every day was a learning curve, and I appreciated every minute of it.
I graduate from the U this spring, and I’m not sure what tomorrow brings, and that’s okay. I’ve learned to appreciate the moment a little more and take every day with a hand at my side.
Student media taught me the importance of both of these things. It also taught me that you can change your mind five, 10 or even 20 times until you get there. And the “how you do it” makes it count even more.
