As she wipes the sweat from her head, up hours later than intended, Sarah finally hits the save button, and blissfully hits the shutdown button on her laptop. Journalism is hard work, but Daniels is no stranger to putting a shift in and is working hard to reach her dreams of writing for the award winning publications she grew up reading.
Research, Research, and more Research
Sometimes it’s just a really big headache- I mean, sometimes you’ll go into a topic expecting to just find a few key points but then boom, 3 days later you’re still learning more and more- it can get overwhelming.
Sarah Daniels
There’s a lot that goes in to journalism process but the first and most important part of the process, research, can be a bit demanding at times. Daniels relayed her issues with the researching saying “sometimes it’s just a really big headache- I mean, sometimes you’ll go into a topic expecting to just find a few key points but then boom, 3 days later you’re still learning more and more about it. – It’s like, kind of a lot sometimes, it can get overwhelming for sure.”
The stress that comes along with Journalism is something Daniels is all too familiar with, spending many late nights wrapped up in trying to find the best potential lead or angle to take a story. However, Daniels isn’t afraid of a little hard work. Her passion and desire to break through on a story or to finally piece together that narrative pushes her to work past those long late nights, as the satisfaction of completing the story is so much better than putting it off.
One of the pieces Daniels spoke proudly of was her look at how Covid-19 affected the classrooms of primary and secondary school children. The research dived into ways masks and other preventative measures caused a sense of disassociation in young children, and overall opened her eyes up to a lot of perspectives.
Listen to Daniels share more about these experiences:
Home Away From Home
Daniels is a sophomore student attending OIivet Nazarene University, a well-respected institution positioned in the Bourbonnais area. The University has many students that call it home, but Daniels in particular finds herself in an interesting position by opting to join those ranks. Her childhood home, the place she grew and went to school, is not even 10 minutes away from campus. Because of this, she has the ability to easily see her family whenever.
“It’s kind of nice, yeah, sometimes even with roommates it can get a little lonely so it’s nice to be able to just go back home whenever and see my family,” she said.
The decision to study at Olivet was an easy one, as Daniels had more or less grown up with the University, and it played a big role in her childhood. Visiting the campus often during childhood to practice with her youth soccer team, Olivet really always felt like a second home to Daniels. Her mother also attended the university and often spoke highly of the institution while Daniels grew up.
Listen to Daniels recount some of the ups and downs of campus life:
A Delicate Balance
It’s not just the pen and notepad where Daniels puts in the work though, as she balances the intricate dynamic of the student/worker life. Working part-time at Staples, she finds ways to put in that same enthusiasm and energy thats dedicated towards her journalistic works in her job too.
General manager Nolan Reece said that he was “very impressed by her ability and dedication to job, [like] I’ve only been here two months now but you could really tell from day one who was a full member of this team and who wasn’t, and she’s up there man.”
