Lights, camera, action. It all happened so fast. Haley Hinds is on-air and ready to go, even after rushing from her car to the studio to try and make it on time. The well-put together reporter and co-anchor for Fox 13 in Tampa take us back to the newsroom just seconds after introducing ourselves. Another student from UT and I are able to observe a brief newsroom experience, as well as interviewing Hinds. Her drive, compassion, and love for the news remind me of why I hope to go into the business and be a reporter. I want to make a difference and tell the stories of the community; stories that matter and that people deserve to hear.
Seeing Hinds do what she does best inspires me and I can relate to her story. She fell in love with the news on an eighth-grade field trip to a station in Pennsylvania. Hinds knew at that moment what her calling was, and here she is today working in one of the top TV news markets in the country.
Even though Hinds is working her dream job, she still struggles with something that I would’ve never guessed: her confidence.
“You know I was surrounded by people supporting me, people at school, and my family, but you know when you’re just a kid and you’re watching these newscasts these anchors, these reporters they seem larger than life, and they seem like they know everything about everything,” Hinds said. “So on day one to walk into a newsroom as a recent college graduate and go ‘Oh my goodness, are they sure they hired the right person, do I know what I am doing?’ and I think just getting the confidence to know I can do it.”
As a soon to be graduating senior in two weeks, I battle confidence as well; the confidence to succeed and know that I am doing a good job. I tend to compare myself to others already in the news business and ask myself questions like, will I ever be as amazing as they are? How can I sound like them? How do I look like them?
I always have people supporting me in what I do and I’m told to believe in myself more, but I never change the way I think. That is until Hinds told us her story.
Her words resonate with me. Hinds makes me feel as if I am not the only one to feel this way nor am I wrong for feeling this way. She teaches me that it is okay to not be confident at first, but at some point, you need to realize that you work hard to be in the position you are at, and there are people that believe in you so you should believe in you too.
This is all very true. It’s a big teaching moment for me.
Since meeting Hinds, I already feel I am exuding more trust in myself. I know I have much to learn, but at least now I have faith in that I chose the right path; I’ll do whatever it takes to be an outstanding reporter and not let my confidence steer me away from going after what I want.
“It takes time, you know you just have to keep going back every single day and make your mistakes here and there, but learn from them,” Hinds said. “It’s taken years and I’m still building my confidence, but just to believe in myself that I worked for it, and I’m here and I deserve to be here, but I have to believe that I can never stop learning. There’s always a lesson to be learned.”