Choosing the pen, working with honor
On Student Press Freedom Day 2025, journalists are people, too
Central Michigan Life Visuals Editor Jo Kenoshmeg, left, and Staff Photographer Mark Hoover, right, photograph girl's basketball at Mount Pleasant High School, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Sauger)
There’s more than one way to be a hero. Doctors and nurses save lives, first responders intervene in emergencies and teachers prepare their students for the world. Clearly, not all heroes wear capes.
When I was about to graduate from high school, I was more certain that I wanted to make the world a better place than I was certain about picking any one major. It’s a lot of weight for one person to carry on their shoulders– this sense of responsibility for improving the world in which they live.
I felt it then, just like I’m feeling it now: Knowledge of the need for change, and more potential paths forward than I can count. I suspect I’m not alone in that these days.
In that first instance, at least, I know upon reflection that I chose correctly. I chose to pursue a degree in journalism to prepare myself to join the honorable ranks of the Fourth Estate, the final check on government action. Or inaction. It has only become more relevant during my three years of study here.
One thing I quickly noticed when I started working and taking classes is that many journalists will push the importance of the industry or their organization, but not their work as individuals.
Editorials about the importance of press freedom abound – and it has never been more important – but I also want to remind you that the people in the field are just that: people. And many of us are also students.
We don’t go into this job thinking it will be easy and fun. It’s not easy (although it can be fun). It’s hard work, and there’s not much glory. But there is honor.
There is honor in knowing that my work shined a light on a real problem. There is honor in knowing that an article I wrote taught someone something new, or prompted a reader to consider a different perspective.
But especially, there is honor in standing on the shoulders of giants who established the organizational reputations and ethical standards that we abide by today. There is honor in working alongside young professionals and knowing that their impact will be profound, because it already is.
To the student journalists across the country, keep on keeping on. The voices you uplift matter, and so do you.
To the readers whose best interests have been the north star of this publication for 106 years, thank you for your support and for holding us accountable.
To the student journalists at Central Michigan Life, thank you for your professionalism, dogged persistence and hard work. Thank you for your laughter, your joy and going along with my "forced fun" activities.
Happy Student Press Freedom Day. They say “don’t meet your heroes,” but I work with them every day.
Lauren Rice is Central Michigan Life's 2024-25 editor-in-chief.
