Together in song and in journalism

After maneuvering through a mild-mannered mass of Christian rock fans gathered for a festival, 45 Chipsters and faculty members boarded a charter bus in the middle of bumper-to-bumper traffic in downtown Nashville.

Excited chatter about newly learned line-dancing skills and gripes about the stuffy conditions on the bus soon evolved into song. From the moment the first note was belted, Chipsters threw every caution to the wind and all were instantly united by a generational bond that will not soon be forgotten.

The experience of screaming Bel Biv Devoe's "Poison" and the "Fresh Prince of Bel Air" theme song in unison with 44 new friends is one I won't forget.

I thought hard about who has inspired me in this short time. It's hard to choose just one. Each person here shows tremendous promise and passion for the craft. The fact that we are all here together is inspiring in itself.

Kathy Adams' personable grace is something that I strive to exemplify every day, and I love Kainaz Amaria's deep, worldly insights and laid-back attitude. Ivy Farguheson's and Stu Woo's sharp Newsmania skills blew everyone away, and Sarah Welliver's and Colleen Cummins' passion for all things visual reminds me to not take the things that I witness for granted.

I want to be just like all of them when I grow up.

But our sing-along on the bus was, by far, the defining inspirational experience of this weekend. It was then that I really saw -- just as in the harmony of our singing --- how together we are. We are commencing, shoulder to shoulder, on our common journalistic journey, and the knowledge that I am not alone is the most inspiring thing of all.

-- MaSovaida Salemo Morgan, Savannah State University, Poughkeepsie (N.Y.) Journal