Intern finds inspired purpose
I despise writing about myself.
You should know, dear reader, the tumultuous spasms I am enduring for you to learn about me. But as one of The Christian Chronicle’s summer interns, it’s only proper to introduce myself.
Actually, it used to be worse. Save for a few rare moments, I disliked writing entirely.
I grew up in Katy, Texas, with my three younger sisters and two parents. We attend the Memorial Church of Christ in Houston, where you can find us sitting in the 10th row on the right side.
The first essay I genuinely enjoyed writing was in high school, arguing Darth Vader is the true protagonist of “Star Wars.”
Don’t worry. I have not made my life passion taking characters out of context.
This particular essay sticks in my memory because it marked the first time I felt writing wasn’t a burden. I had a clear purpose and an audience to persuade.
Unfortunately, in high school, those golden moments were few.
Eli Dean and Andrew Reneau pose with collegiate awards for their work in the Petit Jean yearbook and The Bison newspaper.
Despite my passion for writing, sitting down to create felt like banging my head against a rock. I attributed my struggles to incompetence and continued forward. I knew I loved writing, but I couldn’t fathom why it challenged me so much.
I visited Harding University in Searcy, Ark., with a single goal: to learn how to write.
The English department didn’t appeal to me, so I turned my attention to the multimedia journalism major.
At the time, I knew nothing about journalism. I only knew that if I completed college, a publication might eventually pay me to write.
The saying goes, “Do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life,” right?
Andrew Reneau works on his laptop at The Christian Chronicle’s office in Oklahoma City.
In a print news class, I quickly learned that journalism is steeped in tradition and ethics — and most importantly, it carries a purpose. As I sat in class, an entire world seemed to open up before me. Journalists consistently search for a purpose and then set out to write about it.
When I began writing for The Bison, Harding’s campus newspaper, the tone of my writing changed. During high school and community college, I wrote sporadically for classes, but at Harding’s TV station and newspaper I had a weekly obligation to produce articles and broadcast scripts.
Crucially, I had a reason to write. Like my essay battling for the rights of the Empire, I was writing about a newly opened cupcake shop in downtown Searcy or documenting the duration of Harding’s daily chapel for a semester.
A part of me secretly hoped that writing for The Bison would provide the perfect mix of hobby and purpose and I would enjoy writing forever.
Yet writing remains challenging and will likely always be so — but The Bison taught me to offset the struggle with pure delayed gratification.
Instead of starting with no end goal, now I have the end in mind.
If there’s even a slight possibility that my article might inspire change, encourage someone or light up a dark area with information, then it will all be worthwhile.
I don’t yet know what types of stories I’ll write at the Chronicle, but I look forward to persisting without exception in its community of mission.
If there’s even a slight possibility that my article might inspire change, encourage someone or light up a dark area with information, then it will all be worthwhile.
ANDREW RENEAU is a summer intern for The Christian Chronicle. He is a senior multimedia journalism major at Harding University in Searcy, Ark. He is a member of the Memorial Church of Christ in Houston.
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