I'm ready

In my college years, professors showed me HOW to do journalism -- how to write, how to report, how to craft the message. By May 2006, I had the skills needed to work as a professional journalist. What I didn't have, however, was the mental readiness to turn pro.

I fought with myself (in my mind) for years -- am I ready? Do I have what it takes? Will sources respect and confide in me? My spirit wasn't ready; my thinking wasn't ready; and my heart wasn't ready. I didn't have the confidence until I began reporting for The Associated Press. With the help of my trainer Rebecca Yonker, my Chipster ally Malcolm Knox and my boss Ann Gibson, I'm mentally ready to begin my career with the company or at a member paper.

Journalism, it's my turn now.

-- Khristopher J. Brooks, Central Michigan University, The Associated Press, Louisville, Ky.