Journalists have feelings too

Last night, a good friend told me that Joe Paterno was in critical condition. Ironically, I was on my way to the HUB-Robeson Center to see the movie "50/50"- a comedy/drama about a young man who becomes stricken with cancer.


Cancer.


It's all around us. My family experienced loss in October of last year when my uncle passed away from lung cancer. The image of my now 6-year-old cousin kneeling beside his casket will never leave my memory.


This morning, I woke up at 10:40am with texts from my mom and my boyfriend informing me that Joe Paterno had passed away. To be honest, I felt kind of numb. I was raised on Penn State. My parents met here and my sister went here, along with most of my relatives as well. I've been going to football games to sit in section SJ, row 17 every year for most of my life. I was never obsessed with "Joe Pa" or football, but the news hit close to home.


Shortly after I woke up, my multimedia editor at the Daily Collegian contacted me to ask if I would be available to go to the Joe Paterno statue outside of Beaver Stadium. I jumped on the opportunity. This is the response I gathered:

I am a journalist, and I know I'm supposed to be unbiased and separated from the situation, but I have feelings too. I am allowed to cry.