My name is Daniel Deaton. I’m 24 years old and in my short time on this planet, I’ve realized that you’re going to make mistakes. There are people you will upset by the choices you make and unfortunately, you’ll dabble in ignorance from time to time.
I think what’s most important is that you find the ability to learn from your mistakes and carry on with your life properly.
I’ve discovered my love for writing as a student at Sinclair Community College these past couple of months and have incorporated it into a daily practice. I did this by taking a leap of faith and applying at the Clarion, the student newspaper at Sinclair.
I’ve always had an interest in becoming a journalist. I can remember my aspiration coming from my history book in high school — learning about the famous Watergate scandal in the early 1970s. The two investigative journalists responsible for breaking the biggest story in American politics were Bob Woodard and Carl Bernstein. The magnitude of what they were able to do with their skill set of writing and journalism still gives me the chills.
After applying to the Clarion with only one Journalism class under my belt, I thought for sure I wouldn’t be considered. I guess you could say I’ve been accustomed to selling myself short. I had put this newspaper and my aspirations of being a journalist on such a high standard that I let myself fall deep in a dark place where only I could pull myself out.
I couldn’t help relating to the movie “Batman Begins” when a young Bruce Wayne falls into a cave and becomes surrounded in darkness. He can’t escape until his father pulls him out and conveys something defining and something that connects with me on an emotional level. He said, “And why do we fall Bruce? So we can learn to pick ourselves up.”
That bit of wisdom is my starting point. This is my beginning that I’ve adopted recently into my life. It’s true because no matter how hard you fall, no matter how many mistakes you make, you can rise above it and pick yourself up, again and again.
I’m a reporter now for the Clarion as of March and I’ve already made mistakes in my articles. I’ve incorrectly spelled someone’s last name and the name of a country.
Except this time when I began to fall, I recall a quote that I will always admire: “Every expert was once a beginner.”