By Leezel G. Tanglao, CQS ‘03

The news seems to be everywhere: Layoffs, buyouts, newspapers folding, closing forever.

For both veteran and rookie journalists, the journalism we once knew 20 years ago, 10 years ago, even a year ago may not be the journalism we practice tomorrow.

Despite these challenges, however, some things haven’t changed.

Although our lives as journalists are ruled by deadlines, dealing with reliable and difficult sources and enduring a changing industry, we should not forget the good things about this profession.

They include the joys of storytelling in whatever medium we choose, and the friends we come across and cultivate along the way. They become an integral part of who we are and who we choose to become.

For me, journalism has not only fulfilled my passion to tell important stories but has also provided a network of people whom I’ve come to call my closest and dearest friends.

I was fortunate enough to become a Chipster in the summer of 2003 at The Salt Lake Tribune. That year marked the beginning of many lifelong friendships.

I’ve kept in touch with my fellow Chipster class through group e-mails and now Facebook.

We’ve broken bread together and cried and laughed at life’s trials and tribulations over cups of coffee and late-night diner food.

Through these friends, I expand my network every time I go to a convention or visit another newsroom.

A network like Chips Quinn has helped to sow the seeds of a solid foundation that fosters relationships that last well beyond the newsroom.

And in these challenging times, these relationships are more valuable than anything with monetary value. They offer hope and assurance, that Yes, you are not alone.

But the network doesn’t end with just my own Chipster class.

Last year, I went to my motherland, the Philippines, for the first time. I contacted CQS staff Michelle Hedenskoog and Program Director Karen Catone to find out if any Chipsters lived there. Thanks to them, I connected with a Chipster who was taking classes in the country.

On a recent trip to the East Coast, I caught up with the Chipster who was my newsroom buddy at the Tribune and is now an editor at another paper.

At a wedding in July, I met up with Chipsters from several classes to celebrate a mutual friend’s marital bliss.

So to Chipster classes old and new, I say don’t be afraid to reach out and use the network – which is truly worldwide, and more than 1,100 and counting.

You may not see each other often, but when you do, you can bet you’ll pick off where you left off.

And it doesn’t get better than that.

Leezel Tanglao (Summer 2003) is online news producer at CBS2/KCAL9 in Los Angeles. She is a graduate student in Asian American Studies at the University of California-Los Angeles. Previously she was a reporter for The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, Calif. A graduate of Loyola Marymount University, she was a Chips Quinn Scholar at The Salt Lake Tribune in Utah. Tanglao was a staff writer with The Los Angeles Loyolan, the campus newspaper, covering arts and entertainment and campus news. She is also actively involved with the Asian American Journalists Association.