Get your damn camera out of my face

BEFORE: Tears slowly fall from my eyes onto the frozen ground. I quietly wipe them away with the sleeve of my jacket. I sniffle a little, wishing I had a tissue right about now. As I listen to the voices of the acapella group, I look around to my friends. Their expression are all somber, but I’m the only one shedding tears. All of a sudden I think back to everything that has happened in the past week. Five days is such a short amount of time, but it feels like a year had gone by. Just five days ago everything was great. Five days ago there weren’t news vans parked along every street or reporters combing every inch of the campus looked for an innocent student to prey on. Five days ago we had a president, an athletic director, and a coach. Five days ago JoePa was prepping for the Nebraska game instead of being at home, now an unemployed man. Five days the faith in my university had never dwindled. Five days ago I had respect for the media, my future profession as a journalism major. In those five days, I’ve gone through what most outside of Penn State wouldn’t understand. I’ve suffered the loss of someone extremely important to me. JoePa is more than just a football coach contrary to what most reporters have said in their articles over the past week. I’ve seen people with the jobs that I will have in the future, let me down and report false facts and slander, and weave bias and judgment into their articles.

AFTER: I can’t believe I’m standing here right now. Tears slowly fall from my eyes onto the frozen ground. I quietly wipe them away with the sleeve of my jacket. I sniffle a little, wishing I had a tissue right about now. As I listen to the voices of the acapella group, I look around to my friends. Their expression are all somber, but I’m the only one shedding tears. I hate when my friends see me cry. All of a sudden I think back to everything that has happened in the past week. Five days is such a short amount of time, but it feels like a year had gone by. I really wish I had brought a candle. Just five days ago everything was great. Five days ago there weren’t news vans parked along every street or reporters combing every inch of the campus looked for an innocent student to prey on. Get away from me with your stupid camera. You don’t belong here, especially right now. Five days ago we had a president, an athletic director, and a coach. How are you gonna spin this story to make us look like savages? Five days ago JoePa was prepping for the Nebraska game instead of being at home, now an unemployed man. You’ve already gotten my hero fired, what else can you do to me? Five days the faith in my university had never dwindled. Look, I realized mistakes were made. Five days ago I had respect for the media, my future profession as a journalism major. You do realize you just made an 84-year old man your scapegoat just so that you could sell a couple more papers right? In those five days, I’ve gone through what most outside of Penn State wouldn’t understand. I’ve suffered the loss of someone extremely important to me. JoePa is more than just a football coach contrary to what most reporters have said in their articles over the past week. For the last time, yes, I’m a student at Penn State and I enjoy football, but do you seriously think that’s the only thing we care about? If you believe that, you’re even dumber than I thought. I’ve seen people with the jobs that I will have in the future, let me down and report false facts and slander, and weave bias and judgment into their articles. Get your damn camera out of my face. No, I’m not going to start sobbing for you so you can twist it around and say I’m upset about the wrong things. I’ve seen them judge students for reacting the way they have. Who the hell are you to say what should make me upset? Five days ago I was excited about entering the world of journalism, and now as I stand, quietly crying at a candlelight vigil, hearing the annoying click of cameras, all I want is to never see a journalist ever again.

I added in what I was thinking at the time. I didn’t know how to incorporate dialogue into this particular part, but I like wanted it to be more than narrative. I think I like the changed version with my thoughts. I might work a little more on editing the spacing, but I like the idea of have all my thoughts throughout in italic. I think it also helped me focus on the main thing I was feeling at this point, and the frustration I felt with the media throughout this whole experience.