The Bean in all its glory

“You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”

Learning a new skill can be tough. The older we get, the harder it is to add to our repertoire.

Difficult, but not impossible.

However, the fear of the “difficult” can often stop us from trying something new. For me, that skill was photography.

No matter how hard I tried, I could never seem to get the hang of it. Point and shoot. Easy, even a baby could do it.

This kid, not a chance.

A simple selfie turned into an epic operation. Don’t even get me started on taking pictures of other people.

If you did, here’s what you got:

FAIL.

Needless to say, when I found out I had to take Digital Journalism in the fall, I was thrilled.

I’m with you, Rachel. All day.

Going back to school after close to three years away, the last thing I wanted to do was make a fool of myself. And, to know that my grade depended on the quality of my photos…well, you can only imagine how nervous I was.

Luckily, our teacher, Martha Irvine is as close to a master as you can get in the field.

As a photographer for the Associated Press, she is always looking at how an image can change the way in which people see the world. A photo, in many ways, she says, can tell a story without any words at all.

“First and foremost, you are storytellers,” she said.

As a storyteller, I knew that I had a responsibility to give the photography thing a try.

Each armed with a brand-spankin’ new DSLR camera, off we went.

Heading to Millennium Park, Martha told us to shoot what we see.

Nervously, I knew it was now or never. I had to bite the bullet and give it a go.

I did…and, well, I think I nailed it.

Off into the unknown…

Regal and inviting, welcome to Chicago.

Showing those pictures to my friends and family, they couldn’t believe that I had taken them. To be completely honest, if I hadn’t been the one behind the camera, I would have agreed.

Discovering this new skill was something that I never expected, but that’s just another reason why I know Columbia was the right choice for me. They constantly push us to try things out of our comfort zone because they know we can handle it. That support and guidance is what makes us succeed.

Now, that former scared and nervous photography hater is now:

Or something like that…

Like Barney Stinson says, there’s only one state of mind:

Words of Wisdom

You heard the man. At Columbia, the possimpible is the only thing we know.

As it should be.