By my best estimation, I’ve seen the movie “Spotlight” 17 times. You could say I’m a passionate person.

While I haven’t always wanted to be a journalist, I have always been aware of the groundbreaking work that American journalists have done. The passion of people like Mike Rezendes, Sacha Pfeiffer, Nellie Bly, Bob Woodward and Carl Berstein has led to change that we still feel today.

Personally, my passions have taken me through a mixed bag of majors, but last year I realized the one thing they all had in common: a love of knowledge and truth.

That’s what journalism means to me. At its core, journalism is about finding the truth and making it known.

As the Daily’s second-ever depth editor, I’ve had the unique opportunity to help shape how our paper does depth reporting. I’ve learned about important aspects of journalism like requesting public records and interviewing sources, but I’ve also been able to learn more about our campus through stories about things like the campus climate survey.

While I may not be exposing systemic abuse or uncovering political scandals, I’m in the newsroom nearly every day planning and writing stories that do affect Iowa State students.

I’m reading and writing news that takes me through the full range of emotions. I’m spending late nights here. I’m calling and emailing people who may not want to talk to me. I’m agonizing over word choices. I’m making myself have dance parties in the elevator to lift my spirits, even when I don’t want to.

Teddy Roosevelt said, “Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.”

It may be a tired quote, but I think it rings true here.

It’s what I, and journalists all over the world, do every day. It’s work worth doing.