Journalism Senior Discovers at the DNC that “It Doesn’t Take That Long” to Find Success.
In August 2024, Lauren Brensel was one of four student journalists who traveled to Chicago to cover the Democratic National Convention for WUFT News.
By Lauren Brensel, Journalism senior
When you enroll in journalism classes at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications (UFCJC), you realize almost every professor has a classic saying they thoughtfully proclaim to their students hoping to motivate them through their (often heavy) workload.
My favorite: “It doesn’t take that long.”
I once hated the phrase mostly because I didn’t understand what “it” referred to. Am I supposed to believe that my homework doesn’t take that long? A story? Is becoming a successful journalist not supposed to take that long? And how long is long, anyway?
My questions tarnished any good I could find from “It doesn’t take that long.”
But then I was one of four students chosen to report at the 2024 Democratic National Convention for WUFT News in August.
This time last year, I didn’t even have a byline with WUFT News. I’d say a year didn’t take that long.
At the DNC, I was able to find for myself what “it” meant. “It” means success, another vague term that holds a thousand different definitions to a thousand different people.
Here’s what it (success) meant to me that week:
- Learning all the ways one Florida delegate from West Palm Beach counteracts protesters outside the abortion clinic where she works and how that led her to advocating for Florida Amendment 4, the “Right to Abortion Initiative” on the November ballot.
- Asking Florida Democrats how the GOP’s 1 million-person lead in active registered voters could influence the general election.
- Using my phone to snap a photo of a young Black boy on his father’s shoulders watching Kamala Harris accept the presidential nomination. “He has to see this,” the father said.
I certainly experienced a few hiccups at the convention, too. I lost my voice, and I’m a pretty shy person to begin with, which wasn’t helpful while interviewing and reporting on the top elected Democrats in Florida. Not every interview was outstanding. Not every question produced a solid answer.
But gaining the confidence to speak with state representatives and party leaders didn’t take that long for me to get the hang of — mostly because I had just under three hours to finish all the interviews I needed for my story that day. I didn’t have time to overthink it.
I just had to start.
And that’s ultimately how I made it to the DNC in the first place.
It’s easy to negatively compare myself against the gifted student journalists at UFCJC. But the more I brood over finding success, the longer I wait to start. And I know now that it doesn’t have to take that long.
Brensel’s stories from the Convention include “DNC recap: Key takeaways from Florida politicians and delegates,” “‘Doing God’s work’: Florida Democrats rally behind abortion amendment at DNC,” and “With primary elections underway, Florida Democrats stress importance of this year’s school board elections.”
Posted: September 5, 2024
Category: 2024 Convention Experiences, College News, Profiles
Tagged as: Democratic National Convention, Lauren Brensel
