Blogs » To venus and back » Someone pinch me, is this real?

Subscribe


 
Someone pinch me, is this real?
By adriana_acosta in To venus and back
September 20, 2010

This past week has felt so unreal. On Monday, I found out I was one of three chosen nationally for a three year Inland Press Association minority fellowship.

So now that the initial shock is gone, I can write something about it.

I applied about a month ago.

The application process was easy, I filled out the application, answered the questions and kissed the packet goodbye before sending it overnight.

I mailed the packet thinking it would be nice getting the fellowship, but was really not expecting anything. After all, it was my first time applying to a fellowship, ever.

A few years ago I applied to a New York Times internship and all I got was a rejection letter. In my heart I knew I was not ready, but I went on and applied. I had nothing to lose.

What I got back was a boost of journalism energy, one of the editors wrote me, telling me I was not ready for this internship and she went as far as editing my articles. (Red ink everywhere!) But she also told me she was glad I was following my dream. That in itself made the letter - gold.

This was nothing to be sad about, I strive and learn from those experiences and I was prepared for a "no."

Last week when I received the letter from Inland, I had no idea how to react. I sat in my chair, staring at the letter for what felt like an eternity and not wanting to open it. I had just had an amazing weekend in Austin visiting family, would the news ruin that?

But I have come this far in my career, I thought, a fellowship would not shape me. It is the experiences I have learned throughout that make me.

Then the letter read, "I am please to inform you...and at the end a congratulations from the executive director..."

I smiled, let out a big, "YES!" and ran outside to call my boss.

And for the rest of the week I felt in a daze, I was telling people about my fellowship and they were excited, but I never quite grasped the joy they were feeling for me.

This fellowship was open to all 1,100 member newspapers and they selected only three people - and I was one of them!

The criteria was based on current job performance, skills, experience, commitment to a career in newspaper, to name a few.

Now that all this has set in, I can write about it, and I can reflect on how lucky I have been in this adventure I took just three years ago. I exited life as I knew, to follow a dream I was not sure would even pan to anything.

With this fellowship, I will learn new and exciting things and will take part in workshops and conferences. Being part of a newspaper committee is a requirement, so I will be involved in new ways to plan programs and activities on cutting-edge newspaper topics.

And all this I will apply to make our newspaper stronger.

For more information on Inland Press Foundation, go to www.inlandpress.org