OPINION
Working through adversity builds strength. On Wednesday morning, I saw a reminder of that in action while watching one of my favorite people push through nerves and more to compete in a national competition. Adversity brings stress, but it also brings growth. The old analogy about the way trees grow comes to mind. Those that face strong winds and have to search for water with their roots often develop a stronger foundation that helps them persevere through strong storms and drought. Those that have it easy often build shallow root systems that topple easily when challenged.
We often learn how strong we are when we have a reason to find out, be that from health challenges, life changes or professional issues. It was truly incredible to hear from journalists based in the Kerrville area who spoke about covering their area in the historic July 4 flood that claimed around 139 lives last year. Tammy Prout of the Hill Country Community Journal particularly stood out to me.
Her love of her area was clear in the way she described seeing the event unfold. Her pain on behalf of her neighbors and readers was clear. Her determination to inform her community about the disaster with accuracy and compassion was clear, too. I thought it was an interesting point that Haeley Carpenter of the Kerrville Daily Times made when she said it turned out to be a good thing that she was fresh to her community at the time of the flood because it meant she could take on telling the stories of people her coworkers knew and loved for them in case it was just too hard for them to write themselves. Adversity can be a great teacher, but her lessons are often hard to accept or even see in the moment.
Abigail Bardwell is the Editor & Publisher of the Post-Signal, and she serves on both the North and East Texas Press Association and the Texas Press Association boards. She can be reached at [email protected].
