Confidence is Key

"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right." — Henry Ford


"Just be yourself." Individuality. Confidence. These are all things I have noticed myself thinking about a lot more in the past week. Ever since we were little, teachers and parents always stressed how important it is to just be yourself regardless of what anyone else thinks. Going off to college is a huge transition for most of us and a time to focus on finding ourselves. I believe being confident with who you are and what you believe are two of the most important things to discover in college. If you don't believe in yourself, who will?


The exact same concept applies to journalism. Even if you have no idea where you are or exactly what you want to get out of the story, you need to walk with confidence. No matter how many times a story or source falls through, you need to keep your chin up just as high as it was before. Learn from your mistakes, don't be afraid of them. I think fear is what can ruin you as a successful journalist. The best pictures aren't angles and ideas that are "playing it safe," they are the shots where the photograph took a risk, experimented and approached with confidence. You can't be afraid to take hundreds of awful pictures just to capture that one amazing moment. 


Going into multimedia, I was a little hesitant and self-conscious since I've never expressed myself through photography before. After this week, I've realized confidence is key. We're given all the resources we need to experiment and learn in our own way. If you go into an assignment with the attitude that you're going to give it 100% and create amazing work, chances are that's what you'll end up with.