“Loyal to Myself”
Kaitlyn Daniels
A white wall with a black panther poster and memorable photos surrounding it covered the wall behind her. Her small box braids formed her face and covered her shoulder length. Los Angeles California is where Kelley Carter sips her tea to recover.
While a student at Michigan State, she recollects on the person that put her life in a “practical” state of motion to move forward. She calls this person her “all knowing sophomore” and refers to this person as that sophomore you meet in college that thinks they know “everything about everything”. Well, her “all knowing sophomore” didn’t know everything but knew enough to put her in the right direction. This all knowing sophomore was Jemele Hill. Jemele Hill is a widely known womens sports journalist.
Carter explains that Hill taught her that journalism is a “practical based profession”. Carter compared Journalism to Cardiology. She knew, that good journalism could be done now and early in her career. You didn’t need a degree to start but it needed practice unlike cardiology. Cardiology is a profession that not any college graduate is being put into the operating room to practice and not have watched experienced vets do it first.
Though Carter started in the news, Hill told her that she needed a. “specialty”. She thought to herself and found how her true love was entertainment. She went into entertainment right out of college and looked for the holes in the coverage because “there’s always something that’s not being covered”. Well Carter filled these holes at the Chicago Tribune as an Entertainment writer.
At her time at the Chicago Tribune in 2007, Carter enjoyed making friends and believing that her newsroom was a “big family. There were rumors that layoffs were coming soon, she was nervous. She asked herself what else she would even want to do if it wasn’t entertainment reporting. Carter soon received a call from USA Today asking her to cover entertainment and move to Los Angeles. She resigned from The Tribune and accepted the job. Working for USA today for eight months and soon being laid off was “the best” thing that ever happened to her. The newly opened doors opened up a world of opportunities. that followed up with calls from ESPN, CNN and taking major stories like the death of Michael Jackson. Kelley Carter was grateful for the doors filled with opportunity but also works and strives for more in her ever evolving career.
To most, Kelley Carter is an accomplished journalist. However she still wants more. Interviewing celebrities, working for multiple news companies and being able to vote toward the picks for the Golden Globe is nice. Carter expresses that she is still working toward more progress.
Carter explains that with the call from USA today, CNN, ESPN, reporting the red carpet, and interviewing movie stars she has always remained humble. She has had. moments that she felt accomplished and meeting personal goals but reminds herself to “stay hungry” and to always want more. She does take the time to acknowledge that “she worked hard “ for her high achieving moments and to “enjoy” them. But what keeps Kelley Carter going is that she never swipes the sweat from her forehead and tells herself that she “made it” but instead strives for more greatness from herself in the career that she loves.
