Finding My Niche Jean Chen

We are live in five! Four! Three! Two! One!

“Jean, you’re directing tomorrow.”

I look at my teacher seriously, nodding. However, I was inwardly jumping with joy at the prospect of leading the whole broadcast.

Let me start from the beginning. Back in sixth grade, I look up, fixated, at my school’s morning news. I admired the anchors presenting the day's items with fervor, and I laughed with them when they made mistakes. In my heart, I promised myself that I would be one of those anchors, right on screen, when I entered high school.

Three years later, I walked into the broadcasting room tingling with apprehension. The first class of high school was not filled with the classmates I had known and interacted with for the past three years, but with upperclassmen whom I had always seen and admired, and felt vaguely intimidated by.

How can I compete with them? I thought, as I took a seat at the meeting circle to introduce myself to the seasoned students I would be working with for the rest of the semester.

I, as a small, ninth grader with almost no prior experience in the world of video media, plunged my hands deep into the business, working hard to somehow both fit in and stand out. When something needed to be done, even something so...