Over winter break I went to see “The Post” movie with my family, and it did not disappoint. Set in the early 1970s, the film dives deep into the story of the revealing of the Pentagon Papers and revolves around the United States’ 30-year involvement in the Vietnam War. Meryl Streep plays Katharine Graham, the first female publisher of a major American newspaper—The Washington Post. Editor Ben Bradlee, played by Tom Hanks, is one of the many heroes of the story who pushes Graham to publish the classified documents. These documents revealed that the government knew the U.S. had no way of winning this war and had been lying to the American public for years.

The movie shows the struggle the journalists went through from the moment they got their hands on the documents to the moment they published the story. It is a nail-biting, stomach-turning movie for an aspiring journalist, which is what I consider myself to be.

I’m not always the most attentive movie watcher. I usually get a little wiggly in my chair and check my phone a few times, probably pissing off the people in the theater sitting next to me.

This movie was different. Every second had my full attention.

In fact, multiple times throughout the movie, I got chills up and down my arms and my heart swelled up with a feeling of the most sincere passion (I might have teared up toward the end).

Since I first began studying journalism in college, I’ve had several moments like this. Although I came into college as a journalism major, I had no idea what to expect. I knew I loved writing and photography, so I figured journalism was a good place to start. What came next was the beginning of the end; my addiction to the field of journalism started with the very first journalism class I ever took.

News I introduced me to the excitement of putting together a story. Then, I got involved with The Hawks’ Herald and was introduced to the thrill of chasing a story. There is a certain feeling of purpose when you are going after information you know people will benefit from.