Keynote and going home

The Keynote for the last day John Burnett.  He did a great job in his speech.  If you left early you have no idea what you missed out on.  Mr. Burnett is a from NPR.  He talked about some of the big stories that he covered like going to Iraq for a while and traveling through there.  He shared his experience of Hurricane Katrina which he thought would just be another hurricane.  This one turned out unlike any other.  Then he talked about covering the war at the Mexican American boarder.   He summed up the stories and gave details like a reporter would and since that is my field of study it was really inspiring to hear.

I got the chance to talk to him after and I told him what I wanted to do.  I told him that I would love to do what he is doing and be able to just pick up and go to Iraq and cover a story.  I also told him that I wanted to be able to travel and do a documentary on something like poverty.  He told me how he got started and how I should not just expect to be able to pick up and leave, especially since I will be the newbie in the business.  Many need to start out at the bottom and work their way up, which I expected.  Just shows what a lot of hard work can do.

Anyways, it was a great way to end the conference.  Congrats to all finalists and winners in the Pacemaker Awards.  Good luck and have a safe trip back home!