The term "journalist" is very broad. Whether you're a writer, photographer, public relations professional or in some other kind of communications-related field, it will likely be encompassed by the term.

When I was in high school, I was required to take a certain number of electives and one of those electives I chose was a journalism course. My high school wanted to start up a newspaper and I wanted to start with it. But much to my own surprise and maybe to those of you who know me, I hated the class. I didn't like what I was being taught or how the teacher decided to go about our lessons. I didn't like the concept of being a journalist or the fact that I was being forced to write about mediocre stories around my town and school. After that course was taken (and dropped, very quickly) I never expected to be a journalism major in college, being given journalistic internships or even become a writer.

After being exposed to college-level journalism courses, professors with actual real world experience and an entirely different way of viewing the profession, I knew I was in the right major. Following that wave of inspiration (that I feel almost on a daily basis), I strived to be the best journalist I could be.

Now, journalists sometimes receive a bad rap alongside the world of media in general. We've been called liars, pokers, prodders and insincere, heartless people who generally feed the public lies. There is good and bad in any profession, including journalism, but while myself and many others have been called less-than-great names and accused of less-than-great things, the term "journalist" means so much more than what ignorant, wrongly-informed people choose to say. News should not be biased or favor one event over another, and I believe that a bit of integrity and even priority needs to be restored in the world of journalism, but with all of the bad associated with the profession, it can also be associated with a lot of good.

Brave. Heroic. Admirable. Storytellers. Honest. Genuine. Inspirational. Adventurers. Compassionate.

Those are all words that I, myself have been called, and how many journalists are described as well. I'm not entirely sure I've been in the profession long enough to be considered brave, heroic or admirable, but I sure can think of plenty of other journalists who can absolutely be called those very words, very deservingly.

Let's use Anderson Cooper (one of my absolute favorite journalists) as an example. Does anyone recall his heroic decision to save a young boy from a loot in Haiti? The photos of him running into the madness, picking up the boy and carrying him away from the gunfire are photos that will always be in my mind.

Aside from the bad rap that the field itself and so many journalists receive, we are much more than the rumors created.

Journalists are not only here to create and share stories, breaking news and current events with you. We are here to provide you with a sense of comfort and familiarity, inform you to the best of our ability and inspire you as much as we can. We have a job to get done, just like almost everyone else, but we are compassionate, hardworking storytellers here to make you feel a certain way; sad, happy, angry, enraged, excited and everything in between.

But please don't take this all the wrong way. Journalism is not glamorous or fancy. Journalists risk their lives for the profession. They have been captured, tortured and even killed. It is not always happy or uplifting. It is real, difficult and emotional. It can be sad and unfortunate and suck the creativity and happiness from us. But whatever the situation is, it's what we do and it is what we're providing you with, making you feel whatever emotion it brings out of you.

Journalism and communication connects us all in some way, and being able to communicate with others is a beautiful feeling. Almost anyone will sit down and talk with you if you just take the time to listen, and having the opportunity to really listen and share is truly moving.

So, what does it really mean to be a journalist? It means listening, speaking, writing and connecting. It means taking risks, inspiring, sharing what needs to be shared, almost always finding compassion and loving [almost] every second of what we do.