At the end (almost) of my first week at the Columbia Missourian, I couldn’t be any happier with how things have gone.

I set out looking for a strong start and decided that meant publishing two articles this week, which I’m pleased to say I accomplished. Click on the links to find the two stories—first, Tuesday’s story about Missouri teacher’s associations and the “Facebook” law and Thursday’s breaking news story on the agreement between MU and the Missouri Symphony Society to lease the Missouri Theatre.

Though neither story is necessarily the biggest, hottest story on the site (that’s reserved for the Kahler trial), they’ve both been big learning experiences in terms of learning the basics like Django, budget line e-mails and remembering I still have class.

I mean, making the front page of the website helps the writers confidence too.

As an education reporter I’m lucky enough to have Liz Brixey as a beat editor, and she’s been a wonderfully candid editor for both stories and their ensuing updates. The opportunity to not only write and report on serious deadlines, but receive frank and constructive criticism about my stories has been an absolute blessing.

In just my first week I’ve written two stories, had my first General Assignment (GA) shift, been published in print and even retweeted by the Missourian! I’m happy to say I put any fears I had aside and dug right in to getting my hands dirty.

Hopefully I can keep things rolling through next week and pick up more valuable experience. Follow me on Twitter for updates and info about my stories throughout the week and keep an eye on this blog for more commentary about the experience.