Change.

When the clock struck midnight on the new year 2012 I knew I was about to embark on a roller coaster ride of change within the next 5 months. By May 20^th of this year, my life had gone through more ups and downs in 5 short months than an entire year’s worth of months in years’ past.

I’ve never been the greatest at facing, and accepting, change.

That is, until now.

I can’t help but chuckle at the Ferris Bueler reference as I type this but the fact of the matter is that life moves pretty fast. 5 years ago I was a senior in high school with, what I thought to be, a pretty cut and dry plan for my future. I was going to attend college, major in communication, and become a TV anchor.

That was before the Internet took off, before I learned about the importance of media literacy education, and before social media took over the world.

In the past 5 years, Internet usage all over the world has doubled.

What do we owe this surge in Internet use to? See: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Blogging, Vlogging, YouTube, Instagram… just to name a few. See: Smartphones and mobile technology. See: Interactive media. See: Kindles, Ipads, Nooks and PDA devices that span way beyond that your flip phone of the 90s or your PDA with the stylus pen of the early 2000s.

When you think about it that way, it’s easy to see how these things can impact your life—how they impacted my life plan.

Introduction to Communication was the first time I heard the words “media literacy”. Fast forward 4 years and you’d find me presenting 2-years worth of research and original focus group data to a room full of people about that very same topic.

I didn’t know it then but those words would change the path I envisioned for myself. Those words were also created as a direct result of the Internet, so one can say the Internet changed my life… you may laugh, but if you think about it, it’s changed all of our lives.

5 years ago, Facebook was my only social media platform. The medium was new to the world and we were all trying to figure out the rules as we went. How much information is too much to share? How can advertisers use it to generate money? How can companies use it to generate buzz for their brands? Me? I just wanted to know how to use it to meet some friends before I stepped onto campus for the first time as a freshman at Bryant University.

I spent hours on the various groups and message boards and I even met my roommate through a Facebook chat. 4 years later she is one of my best friends, but many people may have learned an opposite lesson in not meeting people on the Internet.

With any new medium, we make the rules as we go, and that is what we were doing with Facebook. When Twitter exploded onto the Internet I can remember saying I would never get an account. “Why would people want to know what I’m doing every second of the day?”

Then the rules were made and changed. I spend more time than I’d like to admit on Twitter. I’ve catered my following list to information I want to know. I’ve found job leads on Twitter, I learned about Osama Bin Laden’s death on Twitter, and to be honest, much of my news has come from Twitter. I’ve learned to retweet the things I deem important and I’ve learned how to make my Twitter my own personal brand.

5 years ago that wasn’t part of the plan. 5 years ago I wasn’t interested in these things nor did I understand what these things meant for our literacy and for our education.

Have you ever thought about the fact that when you read something online you read it faster and with a different purpose than you do when you read a book? You’re searching for something. When you read print from a book or newspaper you scan the page from left to right and read the words, on the Internet, you look for keywords and “hyper-read”.

My passion for and work with media literacy has allowed for me to better understand that concept, and it’s something I think many businesses would benefit from, many parents could be better off understanding, and many young kids need to learn. The way we learn, think and act is different than it was 5 years ago.

Now, a recent college grad, being a television anchor isn’t #1 on my list of dreams anymore (although, if Katie Couric needs a replacement, you know where to find me, CBS!). However, working with media still is. The Internet brought about a revolution with social media platforms and the way we read and understand content. My passions in life revolutionized with it.

5 years ago if you had told me I would be “pinning” my interests to boards on the Internet and baking recipes I found on blogs while listening to music YouTube recommended for me (all the while begging for a smartphone so I could use that to interact with my friends and continue my mobile games using 4G technology instead of my Kindle Fire’s WiFi) I would have looked at you with shock.

I’ve embraced change. As with all new technology, we can’t predict what the next thing is (although we can take some guesses cough instagram cough) and we can’t start with a set of hard and fast rules. We make the rules as we go and we learn the best ways to do things as we put the rules into practice.

For me, keeping in mind that basic fact I learned while looking into media literacy education has been the tip off point for how I’ve embraced the change. How will you embrace it?

The power of networking: my first paid piece of writing.

When I took my tour of Bryant, and pretty much every day since then, I’ve heard over and over “Network, network, network!” I’ve always thought it was, in general, a really good idea, however, I also always thought the people with the huge success stories from networking were rare.

Then this summer, I landed my internship at WPIX-TV with some inadvertent networking. (I seemingly stalked a former intern who now is a successful journalist for Newsday amongst other things and he was helpful enough to get me in contact with the right people). My story of how I came about applying for WPIX-TV set me apart and makes for a great conversation starter with anyone who asks, “So, how did you wind up landing this internship?”

In my mind, the power of networking was born.

Last summer, I interned with the Long Island Herald and while I was there I met a lot of different editors and reporters for the various community papers. I got to report and really get my hand in and understand community journalism. Not only did I leave with a portfolio of published bylines, but I also left with an increased network. A network which would land me another opportunity this summer…

While I still write occasionally for the Herald, another editor there moved on to Patch.com and reached out to me recently.

He remembered me from my time with the Herald and saw via my LinkedIn profile that I recently started as a News Intern at WPIX. That’s where he got the idea to ask if I would be willing to do some freelance for Patch. Paid writing? Count me in, right?

Not only will I get to write for Patch, but I will have the chance to put together some packages as video pieces for the website as well. For an aspiring TV reporter – a dream come true.

Last week, I got my first assignment: a story about the re-opening of a local burger joint, Long Island Cheeseburgers. Using the experience from working for the Herald last summer, I contacted the owner and wrote the story – and I got paid for it!

The story was published on the web on Monday and I learned it was the most popular viewed article that day – talk about awesome. Check it out here. It’s going to be pretty awesome when I get my first paycheck for writing an article – something I enjoy.

This summer, I’ve spent a lot of time with a reporter here – she’s been taking me out on the field with her and letting me sit in on her tracking, editing and production. The experience has not only solidified for me that this is what I want to do for my career but also given me the chance to learn outside the classroom – an infinitely better opportunity.

Just yesterday we practiced tracking and she gave me a lot of helpful advice on pitch, inflection and energy. In 5 minutes time I went from good to great, based on a few pointers from her and some practicing.

I’ve been able to practice standups, and now that I’ve got my very own tape, I should be taping some of those on camera and getting them to look over and even use as a reel for my next job interview (ya know, when I have an interview for a full-time job … eek!)

Former Theresa probably would have doubted that one day the people I’m meeting and spending a lot of time with here at WPIX might reach out to me or think of me if a job surfaces somewhere, but lately, all I think about is the connections I’m making and the advice I’m getting from people who could remember me in a few years.

In the industry that is media, it’s all about who you know, so for the next 2 months of my time here that’s the new motive to live by. Friday ends me first rotation at the news desk, so I might not be able to go out with Monica as much anymore :( – although I’m certainly not going to hesitate to ask if the opportunity arises – but I am going to have the chance to meet other reporters/anchors/producers here… and network, network, network!