Surprises are best when they are undercover and unknown to those who will receive them. This girl knows because about a month ago, unbeknownst to me, my boss, General Manager Sharon Donat, and co-worker, graphic artist Karen Payne, entered my writing into a newspaper contest – and I won. The William E. James Outstanding Young Journalist Award was awarded to me, who doesn’t have journalism degree or even a year’s worth of full training. I guess miracles can happen. I definitely did not think I would be qualified for this job, let alone an award. For this award, nominations come from a head position in the newspaper company and there must be the nominee’s resume, a letter of recommendation and 10 samples of work from the last year, in this case, 2022. The nominee must be younger than 30 (I’m 23), an employee of a Missouri Press Association (MPA) member newspaper and a regular contributor to the newspaper. If you know, you know. Staff writers do it all – pictures, community news,…