LINDA VESTER

Finally, I get to have houseplants and they stay alive.

I think I'd like to stay anchoring because, number one, I'm learning a lot, and I love it when I'm learning. And number two, I also have the luxury of a stable life.

As a journalist, it is so easy to get hardened when you see so many stories that are disturbing. Sometimes it's just your survival mechanism that makes you hardened to some of it.

But for the first time in many years, I get to sleep in my own bed every night. I haven't done that, literally, in years. It seems like such a small thing, but it is so nice.

What upset me the most was not that I would die, but that I was letting down my parents. I felt very guilty for chasing this dream career of mine, at the expense of my parents.

The school made it very clear that women were entitled to positions of authority. That sense of entitlement allowed us to feel that we have a natural place in leadership in the world. That gave me a mental and emotional confidence.

So now my road map has changed and I don't have a really clear idea of what the next stops are.

I didn't want my parents to support me. I wanted to prove that I could do it by myself.

And since I just turned 32, I'm thinking about getting married, having a family, and that's very difficult to do on the road as a correspondent.

In my rational mind, I know... that is a very simplistic way of looking at it, but when there is violence of that kind, it challenges my faith. I still can't say that I totally understand why - why that is allowed to happen.

But there's always a Mass. It's not a formal Mass at all. We're sitting around her dining room table with wine and Eucharist and holding hands. It's very informal and small, but to me that's a wonderful way to have Mass.

As a journalist, it is so easy to get hardened when you see so many stories that are disturbing. Sometimes it's just your survival mechanism that makes you hardened to some of it.

But for the first time in many years, I get to sleep in my own bed every night. I haven't done that, literally, in years. It seems like such a small thing, but it is so nice.

So now my road map has changed and I don't have a really clear idea of what the next stops are.

In my rational mind, I know... that is a very simplistic way of looking at it, but when there is violence of that kind, it challenges my faith. I still can't say that I totally understand why - why that is allowed to happen.

Sometimes stories are inherently important whether or not they have a direct relation to your life.

The school made it very clear that women were entitled to positions of authority. That sense of entitlement allowed us to feel that we have a natural place in leadership in the world. That gave me a mental and emotional confidence.

Finally, I get to have houseplants and they stay alive.

I didn't want my parents to support me. I wanted to prove that I could do it by myself.

What upset me the most was not that I would die, but that I was letting down my parents. I felt very guilty for chasing this dream career of mine, at the expense of my parents.

I think I'd like to stay anchoring because, number one, I'm learning a lot, and I love it when I'm learning. And number two, I also have the luxury of a stable life.

And since I just turned 32, I'm thinking about getting married, having a family, and that's very difficult to do on the road as a correspondent.