Category: journalism

Suffolk University, A Day In The Life Of Liz, Boston, Twin Falls, Idaho, Reporter, journalism, 2023

4 YEARS LATER

elizabethjoyhadley

Dear Elizabeth, 

Today is a monumental day. 4 years ago today you graduated college with your bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism, one of the most exciting and special days in your life. 

Now, it’s been 4 years. Which is crazy, because 4 years is the amount of time you were in college. So now, you’ve been out of college for the same amount of time that you were in college. WILD. 

I am so proud of you, Elizabeth. So proud of how much you have grown and how much you have changed, and become who you were meant to be. 

4 years of being in the real world, as they call it. 

I wish I could have told you how your life would go back then, but that would have ruined the fun of it. You also probably wouldn’t have believed it. 

Here is what I wish you could’ve known though. 

LIFE IS HARD: One month after graduating college you will move across the entire country by yourself. You will start a job in a town where you know no one and nothing. You will be alone, and sad, and sometimes really upset because you gave up your entire life for this job and no one seems to understand how hard it is, and how alone you feel. 

But here is the good news: Life is hard. But you can do hard things. You can, and you will. And you won’t give up, because that’s not who you are. Embrace the hard, embrace the sad days, and then get stronger, and more independent. Recognize that life is hard, because if you do that, you can get through the days. Life sucks sometimes, it really really does, but if you have a goal and a dream, the hard days won’t get in your way. 

A PANDEMIC WILL BEGIN 9 MONTHS AFTER YOU MOVE: Ah yes, the COVID-19 Pandemic that no one was prepared for. You’ll be forced to work from home for months on end, but still required to complete your news reporting duties, and be a person that the community can trust and rely on all from your one bedroom apartment. 

Some days you will wonder how you will get through it, and when the pandemic will end, if it ever will. If you thought you felt alone and isolated at your new home and new job before the pandemic, just wait a few months. 

YOU WILL ADOPT THE CUTEST DOG: Jackson will become the best part of your life. He will need a lot of structure and routine, because he was abandoned and left for dead, which is how he ended up at the shelter. But, with practice, he will become the best dog you ever had, and sometimes the only thing you could count on to make you smile at the end of the day. 

YOU WILL ALSO MEET A GREAT GUY NAMED TREVOR: Trevor and you will start dating and you will really enjoy getting to know him, and eventually you will move in together, and then buy a house. You will laugh, smile, cry, and he will become your best friend. The person who you love with all your heart, even through the hard times, which there will be. 

YOU WILL MOVE TO WEEKEND ANCHOR AND EVENTUALLY MORNING ANCHOR: Turns out, you will really come to like living and working in Twin Falls, Idaho. And, you will work hard and tell stories that matter to this community. You will see the difference that you make in this community, and you will care so much about it and the people here. Being a journalist is so hard, but to the people that live here, the stories you tell, they mean everything. When you move to the morning show, people in the community will come to know you, and actually enjoy your bubbly personality. 

LIFE IS UNPREDICTABLE: I mean, through the COVID pandemic, losing two grandparents and a dog, working every shift possible at the station (besides overnight), working from home, working from the station, training new people, moving to a new house. Life is just messy, and it’s hard, and it’s unpredictable. But you adapt, and you move forward with the circumstances presented to you in the best way you know how. 

YOU WILL BECOME A STRONG, INDEPENDENT PERSON: When you moved away from your home, you needed people. You couldn’t make a decision for yourself without other people’s opinions, and you never said no to anything. You believed you weren’t worthy of anything, and you had to prove that you were. You never advocated for yourself and what was best for you, because you just said yes to anything and everything, because you wanted to prove that you were a good journalist, and more than that a good person. 

Elizabeth, you are so brave, and so strong, and you don’t need anyone or anything to tell you that you are worthy or good enough. Not your job, or your boyfriend, or your family, or the general public, and especially not social media. 

You are worthy and you are enough because you are you. And you will make mistakes and you will mess up and you will cry and you will have hard days. 

But none of that makes you less important. You have nothing to prove to anyone. You are the best company in the world, (besides Jackson) 

You have to have confidence in yourself and believe that it doesn’t matter what the viewers think about your looks or how you talk or how curly your hair is. 

Over the past 4 years, your life will turn upside down and back again, but at the end of the day, you will become strong, brave, and independent. 

Elizabeth, it’s been 4 years since you graduated college and if you knew all of this then, you probably never would have taken that cross country drive to move here to Idaho. 

Life is about making choices. You make them, and you stick with them, and then you decide what to do next, and you choose to make the best of what happens. 

I can’t wait to see what the next 4 years hold for you, because if I know you, Elizabeth, it will be crazy! 

Love, Elizabeth. 

2022, A Day In The Life Of Liz, Andrea Nastri, Andrew Navaroli, Boston, Bruce, Christmas, Idaho, International Junior Miss, Jackson, journalism, Pageant, Reporter, Santa, Twin Falls

Goodbye, 2022!

elizabethjoyhadley

It’s hard to believe that 2022 is almost over! I have been thinking a lot lately how fast this year went by, and how crazy it is that it’s almost a new year!

I’ve never really been a fan of New Year’s. I hate staying up late, and I often feel sad, because I think of all the things I wanted to do that year and didn’t.

But, what I’ve learned lately is that life just keeps going, and most of life is the mundane, the boring, the day to day things, but when you look back that is sometimes the most memorable.

Here is a recap of my 2022!

January started with my two best friends! I miss them so much!

Then we celebrated Jackson’s birthday! I don’t actually know if this is his birthday since I adopted him, but let’s be real, he doesn’t know either!

February I had the best time skiing at Sun Valley. I had a day off in the middle of the week and decided to ski by myself! I felt so free!

In March, my favorite Bruce’s came to visit and we also went skiing at Sun Valley!! I love my two favorite Bruce’s!

I also turned 25 in March! We took this picture on my birthday!

In April, my mom came to visit and we had a great time shopping and doing all the things we love to do together! I love my Mom so much!

In May, I spent a lot of time outside with Jackson!! We went on lots of walks, read lots of books, and enjoyed the beautiful weather before it got too hot!

In June, I found out I was going to be competing at International Junior Miss as Miss Idaho! This was a goal I set for myself back in 2019! Just goes to show that sometimes your goals take a while to accomplish, but that doesn’t mean you should give up on it!

July was super fun! I started my new role at KMVT as the morning show co-anchor!

My grandfather also passed away in July, I miss you Papa!

In August, Trevor and I went to DisneyLand and California Adventure! I am sharing this picture because I was so proud of myself for not letting my fears stop me and I went on the Incredicoaster!

In September we celebrated Trevor’s birthday with these great friends!! I’m lucky to have so many great friends!

October was exciting! We bought a house! I love this house and it’s finally starting to feel like home!

November was so busy! I flew back to MA for one weekend to surprise my mom for her birthday!! We pulled off the surprise!!

Then, it was time for Internationals in Florida! What an amazing week with new friends and my family!

December was full of Christmas cheer!!

Now, these are just some highlights of the year. Most of my days were just full of work, taking care of my dog, cooking, cleaning, food shopping, and just doing daily things.

There were also a lot of sad days, and a lot of happy days. And right now as I’m ending this year, I am very sick.

But, I choose to look on the positive side and hope that 2023 will be a year full of accomplishing goals, growing, and happiness.

Happy 2023!

2022, A Day In The Life Of Liz, College, Idaho, journalism, Reporter, Twin Falls

WHAT I WISH I KNEW BEFORE I MOVED ACROSS THE COUNTRY AT AGE 22 TO BE A NEWS REPORTER

elizabethjoyhadley

When I decided to move to Idaho after college, I was excited. I was scared, but I was excited… It was a good job, I had just graduated college, and I thought I was ready for this next chapter in my life.

I was so wrong. 

Now, I’ve been here for almost 3 years and I was thinking how much has changed since I began that cross country drive. 

Not only is the world a different place, but I am as well. 

And I can honestly say, even though it has undoubtedly been the hardest thing I’ve ever done, it’s also been the absolute best decision I’ve ever made. 

It’s so hard to see that so much of who you are, and the things you believe, are solely because of the people you surround yourself with. 

“You are the sum of the people you surround yourself with” 

I believe this with my whole heart. If you are around negative, mean people, you will become one too. But if you are around people who support you and lift you up, that’s who you’ll become. 

But when you move away, and you’re all alone, you get to decide who you surround yourself with, and what type of person you want to be. And not because it’s what everyone else thinks you should be doing, but simply because you know it’s what is right for you. Sometimes, you are only friends with people because you’ve always been friends with them… not because they are adding anything to your life. 

So that’s number one, whether you need to move away to figure this out or not: 

SPEND TIME WITH PEOPLE WHO FILL YOUR CUP, AND SPEND TIME DOING THINGS THAT BRING YOU JOY… 

Number two: 

BE PREPARED TO BE LONELY…

The only reason I moved here was for my job, and although now I have a lot of other hobbies and people and things going on in my life, that was not the case right away. 

I was so lonely, the only people I knew were from work. I missed the familiarity of my room, my friends and my family. 

But, in a way… that’s nice, because I got to decide what I liked doing, and what I didn’t. I got to figure out what type of person I wanted to be and what types of things I wanted to do.

It’s ironic, because now, I LOVE being alone. Please just give me 20 minutes after work to myself, I need to decompress. 

Third: 

IT’S GOING TO BE HARD…

I mean, working in journalism doesn’t pay a lot… at all, so not only will you be in a place that is new, and you will be lonely, but you will also be poor. 

You also will be learning how to succeed at your job and let me be honest… you will be bad at it, very bad.

You will make mistakes, and you will be lonely, and you won’t have a lot of money… so yeah, it’s going to be really really hard. 

But, that leads me to Number four: 

REMEMBER WHY YOU WANTED TO GO INTO THIS FIELD/PROFESSION ETC… 

On my worst days, when I would go home and cry and just want to give up, I didn’t… 

For a lot of reasons, mostly because I believe life is hard, and if you can’t handle hard days, that’s on you. 

“Life is tough, my darling, but so are you.”

I love telling stories, I love meeting new people and hearing about them and why they are the way they are. I love meeting people and thinking to myself, you are doing exactly what you were put on this earth to do. 

I love it, and the good days far outweigh the bad… but it is hard, it’s so very hard. 

Wow, already on number five: 

ACCEPT THE FACT THAT YOUR LIFE ISN’T ALWAYS GOING TO GO HOW YOU PLANNED IT: 

I’m not going to lie, I had a plan in my head when I moved to Idaho, to finish my two year contract and move on to another station… I always wanted to be a head anchor at a big station… but almost three years later, and I’m still here. 

There are a lot of reasons why I chose to stay, but it really all comes down to the fact that you can have all these goals and plans and dreams for your life, but then things happen, and they change. 

For example: 9 months into me living here, COVID-19 hit and I was forced to work from home. 

I believe that “life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond to it.”

So, yes I wasn’t expecting to move to Idaho and like it, I wasn’t expecting to move to Idaho and meet my boyfriend, I wasn’t expecting to move to Idaho and for the entire world to shut down. But, it did. So what am I going to do about it? 

Which is another reason why I think it’s good to be alone, and it’s good to be somewhere where no one else is impacting your decisions on how you react to it. Because you know it’s going to be your choice, and no one else’s. 

Which leads me to number six: 

TRUST YOUR GUT: 

No one knows you like you. 

So, when you are alone, and you feel in your heart or soul or gut that something isn’t right, listen to it, don’t take anyone else’s opinions into the matter, just listen to yourself. You know what feels right to you, and you know what the right choice is… you always will. 

Seven: 

HOLIDAYS NEVER GET EASIER: 

It just sucks to work on holidays, there is no easy way to say that. We all do it, and we all hate it. The only bright side is, the people at the station will understand what you are going through on those days, and they will help you get through them. 

Eight:

IT JUST TAKES TIME: 

Everything takes time, it takes time to feel like you belong, it takes time to feel like you are good at your job, it takes time to make friends, it just takes time. 

But while it’s hard, and while it seems like it’s never going to get any better, embrace that… embrace the hard… embrace the days where you mess up, learn from those mistakes, and don’t do it again… be a little better every day. 

Life seems long, but it’s really not, and your job, your money, your “success” none of that matters in the end, I believe that with all my heart. 

I can tell you with absolute certainty that what people remember about you isn’t any of that, it’s all about who you are, and how you made those people feel about themselves, and what you did for them that matters, I promise. Who you are… deep into your core, is the most beautiful thing of all. 

So if you’re still reading this, I hope it helps you. I hope some senior in college about to move across the country for his/her first reporting job reads this and just remembers one piece of information, and maybe, just maybe it will help them.