Political reporting: definitely maybe

If someone had asked me a year ago if I wanted to be a political reporter after college, I probably would have wrinkled my nose as if the word political smelled bad and said “not likely.” Now after completing an internship as a political reporter in Olympia, my answer has changed to a strong “definitely maybe.”

I have no delusions that, at 21 years old, I really know what I will end up doing for the rest of my life. My mother graduated with a degree in food science and now is a mortgage consultant for a large bank, so who can say what will happen?

However, I feel as though this internship has opened my eyes to a possibility I might not have considered before. I now know I like how busy life around the Capitol is during session. Constantly attending press conferences, meetings and debates is equal parts exhausting and exciting.

I am truly fascinated by watching the political process unfold from such a close distance. Reporting on the Legislature has reminded me of the importance of government and especially the importance of being informed about one’s government.

I also have found that I like playing the role of the informer. When I finish an article on the Legislature, I like knowing that what I am doing matters.

Reporting on politics is not always, or rather not usually, glamorous, but it does serve a higher purpose than me indulging in my love of writing.

I can make it through a boring committee meeting if I remind myself that whatever it is that I’m covering impacts real people, and therefore it is their right to know what’s happening.

I have gained enough experience that I feel as though I will go into my final year of college knowing there is one more potential career path I could take. At this point in my life, I believe an informed “definitely maybe” is a perfectly acceptable answer to the all-too-common question for my generation: do you know what you want to do for a living?