Hey, it’s your new News Editor of the Daily Eastern News.

I started working at the News during my freshman year during the Spring 2022 semester as a regular reporter by covering one story a week about the upcoming events for the next week.

It was not a hard task, but I wanted to take baby steps since, at this time, it was my first-time taking journalism seriously.

I did a few real stories, which were exciting because I knew those were the type of stories that were expected out of most journalists.

I conducted my first interviews during this time period as well which were nerve-wrecking at the time, but at this point I am more comfortable with them, but there is always room for improvement.

When the Fall 2022 semester started, I started my sophomore year and I was promoted to the Campus Events Junior Editor, which came with a lot more work, but, nonetheless, I managed.

At this point I was covering about three to four stories per week, sometimes more, while co-hosting a podcast with my coworker, Drew Coffey, “Two Dudes Talk Movies,” go check it out on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

This position really showed me what it takes to be a journalist and although the job was complex, I loved every bit of it.

I was getting a real idea of what it takes to do what I intend on doing for a career.

Starting the Spring 2023 semester, I have been promoted to the News Editor position of the Daily Eastern News.

I am very excited to be able to be in this position. Although the job will probably be more challenging than the prior two positions I held, I am prepared for it.

I am looking forward to working closer with the staff and working on stories that I am not the best at.

I am sure that with time and the help of the rest of the staff, my comfortability level will rise with stories that I am not comfortable writing.

I enjoy working for the News. It has shown me a lot of qualities that will work in my favor in the future and the connections that I have made while working here are cherished.

I am only a sophomore and am on the right path to becoming successful in the journalism field at a pretty fast pace.

Complacency results in lack of progression so I think moving at this pace is great.

My writing abilities get better over time, and I try to learn something new often that can help me, so I try to improve every day and use the skills within my articles.

I look forward to what this semester brings, in not only at the News, but also within my academic career.

Let’s all have a positive mindset while entering this new semester.

Cam’ron Hardy is a sophomore journalism major. He can be reached at cahardy@eiu.edu or 217-581-2812.