I've grown up

I have learned that, for the most part, people in the South love helping out an outsider, especially a “Yankee.” I also have learned that what is big news back in my home of Michigan is definitely not important here. People here could care less if the car industry is in shambles. They're in a drought right now, and farmers want to make sure they can get good crops this Summer.

The accents still are difficult to decipher, but I'm getting better at it. And just because they’re spelled “Natchitoches” and “Tupawek” does not mean that's how they're pronounced. (It's NACK-uh-dish and TOO-paw.)

I also have learned that stories sometimes fall into your lap and, at other times, you have to dig around for them (or sit through a really boring meeting to find one).

It doesn't seem like I have only a month left here. In the time that I have been here, I have learned so much. I learned that I can turn around an investigative piece in a few days. I also have learned how to better work with photographers, editors, fellow reporters and the general public.

Being out of state and on my own has not only taught me how to be a better reporter, it has helped me to grow up.

-- Sharryn L. Harvey, Wayne State University, The News-Star, Monroe, La.