I am going to say something that feels deeply Midwestern and wildly uncomfortable:

I won an award.

There. I said it.

Specifically, I received the Excellence in Creative Expression Award from the English and College Readiness Department at Washtenaw Community College. Even typing that makes me want to add three disclaimers, two self-deprecating jokes and a reminder that I am still the kind of person who forgets laundry in the washer.

But I am trying to let myself sit with this one.

The award came with a certificate, which I will absolutely be framing, and a letter that made me cry in the most inconveniently human way. My instructor, Katy Shay, wrote that my reporting is “clear-headed and compassionate,” and that as a journalist, I am “absolutely dedicated to the truth.”

I do not think I could ask for better words to carry with me.

Then, in a full-circle moment I am still processing, The Sun Times News, where I work as a reporter, published a story about the award.

Usually, I am the one asking the questions. I am the one taking notes, checking spellings and listening for the detail that makes a story feel alive. I am much more comfortable standing slightly off to the side with my notebook than being the person in the headline.

So seeing my name there was strange.

And lovely.

And maybe exactly what I needed.

My editor, Doug Marrin, said in the article that I bring “resourcefulness and energy” to the newsroom, and that my ability to connect with people gives my reporting “real depth and breadth.”

That stayed with me, because connecting with people is the part of this work I care about most.

When I started taking journalism classes at WCC, I already knew I loved writing. I loved asking questions. I loved the small human moments, the details that tell the bigger story.

School has helped me sharpen those instincts into something sturdier. It has pushed me to think more carefully about fairness, clarity, accuracy and accessibility. It has reminded me that good writing is not just about sounding good. It is about serving the reader.

As a local reporter, I write about school board meetings, community events, road projects, environmental questions, small-town traditions, local government decisions and the occasional wonderfully chaotic day that starts in a bookstore and ends at a dragway.

Local journalism is a strange, beautiful mix of the serious and the human. One day you are writing about public policy. The next, you are trying to identify everyone in a group photo while praying you spelled every name correctly.

The work matters because the community matters.

People deserve to know what is happening where they live. They deserve stories that are accurate, readable and connected to real life. They deserve reporting that does not talk down to them or skip over the human part.

That is the kind of journalist I want to be.

Receiving this award felt like a small but powerful nudge to keep going. Not in a frantic, prove-yourself-until-you-burn-out way. More in a “maybe you are ready for the next stretch” way.

It made me want to chase more challenging stories. Ask better questions. Keep learning. Keep showing up in the room. Keep making complicated things easier to understand.

It also reminded me how much it means to be seen by a teacher.

Teachers notice growth while we are still focused on everything we have not figured out yet. They see the draft before the confidence catches up.

I am grateful Katy saw something in my work worth naming. I am grateful WCC has given me space to keep growing as a writer, journalist and student. I am grateful Doug and The Sun Times News team took the time to recognize it publicly.

And I am grateful for the reminder that the work I care about so deeply is starting to look like the work I hoped I could do.

So yes, I won an award.

I am proud of it.

I am going to frame it.

And then I am going to get back to work.