Mid-February Focus

As we continue forward in the semester, I am finally feeling my way through what exactly being a reporter looks like at the Missourian. Finding the balance of managing my time in personal and beat stories with the condensed pressure of general assignment days has been challenging but rewarding. I think that I am finally getting the hang of pursuing my own interests in pieces while still completing the work that I need to be doing. 

Tucker waits while his owner Kendra Earl Warlow tries out a sleeve and different sizes of prosthetic cavities. Three different sizes were created for this meeting so as to check a number of options in cavity size in this single visit.

Hands down my favorite piece of the semester thus far was getting to know Tucker, the three-footed, four-legged and five-year-old Australian Shepherd working in partnership with the MU 3-D printing club to develop a prosthetic foot. Born with only three properly developed feet, Tucker has developed a number of health issues because of his mis-formed hind foot. With hope of improving the remainder of Tucker’s life and limiting future pain/damage from increasing with this prosthetic. The piece was a great way for me to push out of my comfort zone and learn to handle a large number of people quickly and in an organized fashion. 

Pushing forward, I am excited to continue finding and working with stories involving groups that I know absolutely nothing about like the 3-D printing club prior to this piece. I love being able to work on pieces and get to know people who are part of groups and organizations that I am completely foreign to and I hope to continue this aspect of reporting and storytelling throughout the remainder of the semester and moving forward.