An offer I couldn't refuse

I was nearing the finish line of an already lengthy academic career when I heard the news: the University of Michigan-Flint was introducing a journalism program.

I had already completed nearly all of my communications degree, and intended to leave my overly familiar campus community for the supposedly vast and opportunistic real world. Now my graduation plans are being put on hold for, to paraphrase actor Marlon Brando's Vito Corleone, an offer I couldn't refuse.

Fast-forward about two years, and I am on the cusp of graduating with a degree in the field I love and respect the most.

Before ever taking a formal journalism course, I was already doing freelance work for several publications. However, whatever training I had acquired to date was fairly straightforward.

Once I became engaged in the journalism program, I started to learn some of the more subtle rules of journalism, namely ethics. This was a wake-up call reminding me about reporting responsibly and weighing the consequences of my words. Further lessons followed: finding a good story, then reporting it with multimedia. I incorporated these new teachings into The Michigan Times, soon becoming its managing editor. I won Journalist of the Year from the Michigan Press Association after injecting multimedia into our publication's Web edition.

Over the summer, I used this knowledge to work my way up from an intern to a staff reporter at The Tri-County Times in Fenton. I was able to quit my part-time retail job at Best Buy.

Still, despite whatever success I had accumulated, I never had a formal course in editing. I see this as the final piece to the puzzle. I feel that I can learn a thing or two from this course to help me advance my career and perfect my work.

Ahoy, Tugboat

Hello, and welcome to the Tugboat Tribune.

Tugboat was a name given to me this year after an incident several years ago. My fellow classmate Jordan Climie and I hit the lakes in Fenton, Mich. in my parents' pontoon to enjoy a nice summer day — and to impress girls.

We jumped into the water, only to find that we had no way back onto the boat, as the ladder was left on shore. I was able to give Climie a boost onto the boat, but I still did not have a way back on the boat.

I offered to swim to shore and let Climie meet me there with the boat, but he could not figure out how to start it. Long story short, I ended up pulling the boat to shore behind me with a tow rope.

This year we were assigning each other nicknames and the name "Tugboat" stuck instantly.