A new feature bringing you highlights from the mediabistro.com discussion boards. This week:

GirlGoesGlobal: "I know some of you are seasoned writers. But what was your first BIG byline...the one mom hung on the fridge and you mailed to everyone you ever knew?"

Collier: "My big break, I have to say, wasn't all that big. I was in my first newspaper job for a 20,000-circ paper. I was living with my parents because my salary was $17,000 a year. Five weeks after graduating from college, I wrote a five-day series that won a first place award in the state press association contest. My parents framed the paper from the first day, and though it's hanging in closet somewhere, I still look at it and remember how good it felt to know that I had done something. Even as a 21-year-old. Really, I wish I could recapture that excitement every time I write a big front-pager today."

Check out (or add to) the conversation here: First Big Break

For plenty of other hot topics, go here: mb Bulletin Boards