Day 5: Our Last Full Day

I’ll admit, I’ll miss this conference and the experience that I’ve had…but it’s not over yet. I still have to pack and cry.

Today was spent in the great city of DC, exploring and wondering why my congressmen canceled…still. Since I was a bit distraught about the whole situation, I decided to make myself even more upset, so the Holocaust museum seemed like the obvious choice. That is how I spent about four hours. But let me tell you, the walk to the museum from the capitol kills everything in a body, but I don’t regret going…unless my meeting was still on.

When we arrived at the Holocaust museum, after dragging our tried bodies across streets and cars, we were ushered into a security check, which I always hate. Still, going through a metal detector is so much more pain free than being blown up.

The museum was unlike any  I’ve ever been in. We were given a small booklet of a person who went through the holocaust; then we were told, by a very rude lady, to go to the fourth floor and work your way down, reading one page on each floor. Despite her failure of knowing how to speak to a group of people nicely, she knew what she was doing.

Oh yeah, today was also the gala. It’s nice to dress up and look nice with everyone else. It’s  nice to be served food and godly cake. It’s nice to have fun for once. I’m an uptight person, who doesn’t know how to “fun”; and the truth is, I needed a night. We arrived, ate, danced, and left super tired. The long awaited gala finally happened, and it went well.

As I pack my bags, I’ll pack memories, too. And that’s special. I came into this conference with the mindset of fear. I feared if people would like me; if I’d get lost; if I’d even want to become a journalist anymore. None of that was true, (except the getting lost part…but it wasn’t major). From the start, I talked to new people, and the people here are so kind. I made experiences, even if the odds weren’t in my favor; and most importantly, I became excited about journalism. So, I’d like to say thank you to my parents for encouraging me to come to this amazing conference and financing it; thank you WJMC, for opening the doors wide enough for me to see the other side. I’ll always remember this week, the best yet.

TEAL

GODLY CAKE

ORANGE

Holocaust booklet

 

So, How Many More Days?

 

     So here is the thing: I don’t consider myself to be a type “A” person; so I do not know how many days are left until the conference. However, that does not contribute to how excited I am for the Washington Journalism Conference.  Why? Because I’m PUMPED…oh, wait, how “structurally correct” does a blog post have to be?

     Usually bloggers would’ve already left the reader when an inspirational thought, but at this point, I’m going to introduce myself. I consider myself to be a girl who makes calm conversations very awkward, and serious topics I make light. Some will call me rude, some will call me cold or weird. However, I am neither. I call this “Hannah”.  Are you inspired yet?

     My name is Hannah Morgan, and I am from West Virginia. I have teeth. My teeth are almost my significant other. Sorry, I’m getting weird. Here is the thing: I’m confused, but I do almost know one thing. This one thing is that I want to be a journalist. Unless something bizarre happens, I hope to be a successful one. I know, everyone wants to be successful…I’m just not a huge fan of the idea of living in a box…if that is your aspiration, you’re wild. But I do have this dream. I want to go outside of my comfort zone to reach the uncomfortable parts that need to be reported. I want to meet radicals; I want to meet the brave, because contrary to popular belief, these people are what needs to be reported…not reality stars. I want to see history be made. (I also would like to begin a sentence with “and”; because when people ask if it’s acceptable, I can notate, that in fact, I can do it because I am a writer.)

    I am a complicated being, I’m sorry. I have dreams, I’m not sorry; I hope you have dreams, too.

     Welcome to my Washington Journalism and Media Conference blog, I hope you enjoy the visit.

     Also, if you are soon going to the conference and have any questions, I should have my email somewhere on this blog….feel free to ask!

 

-Hannah Morgan

(shout out to the not illegally downloaded picture)