Sheinelle Jones is sharing sweet memories from her first broadcast job out of college.
The 3rd Hour of TODAY co-host opened up about the early days of her career in a candid post June 8 on Instagram, that shows her remembering the excitement — and the uncertainty — she experienced as an eager, young journalist.
Sheinelle's video kicked off with a throwback photo, shot from behind, that showed her typing on a computer in the WICS-TV newsroom in Springfield, Illinois.
"Cleaning my room and I just came across this picture," she said in the video, adding, “This was from the year 2000. I had just graduated from Northwestern. I was in the newsroom. I think I was by myself, maybe one other person, whoever took this picture.”
Sheinelle, who landed her dream job at TODAY in 2014, guessed the photo was taken during the holiday season at around 3:30 a.m., when her shift began.
"I just remember at the time I was happy but I just didn't know where life was going, you know?" she said, noting with amusement the large "old-school" computer she used at work.
The video then zoomed in on graduation pics pinned up around her desk. The photos showed her proudly posing in her cap and gown with her mom and other family members by her side.
On the other side of the desk, a framed photo showed Sheinelle cozying up to her "then-boyfriend, now husband" Uche Ojeh, whom she met at Northwestern.
The mom of three paused to poke fun at her 2000-era work clothes. “Please tell me why anybody let me wear these shoulder pads,” she joked.
Sheinelle went on to say she worked alone a lot in those early days. “I was a one-man band. So I shot my own stuff, I edited it. I did all the things,” she said.
“But I remember sometimes just not knowing where life was going,” she continued.
“That was 23 years ago," she said. "And so that picture gives me joy because I realize that there was kind of a bigger lesson there and that is, sometimes you may not see the light at the end of the tunnel but you just keep the faith, and keep doing what you do, and you land, and it all works out."
Sheinelle captioned her video, "Yesterday I promised to share my thoughts when I find joy in the mundane moments of my day. I’m cleaning my room and I just found this picture! My first job. I wouldn’t trade these years for anything. I wish I could tell the news reporter in this picture that things were all going to work out."
Sheinelle’s personal message inspired fans of all ages. “Thank you for this!!! Just graduated with my masters degree and needed to hear this!” wrote one.
“Wouldn’t it be amazing if we could tell our younger selves ‘It’ll all work out, dear,’” said another.
Sheinelle’s inspiring post comes nearly two months after she fulfilled another lifelong dream — dancing onstage with her childhood idol, Janet Jackson.
The music legend invited Sheinelle to join her and her dancers on tour when she visited TODAY in December 2022.
On April 16, Sheinelle — who dressed as Jackson for Halloween in 2019 — joined the Grammy winner during the opening weekend of the singer’s “Together Again” tour at the Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Florida.
The next day on TODAY, Sheinelle still couldn’t believe the "absolutely magical" moment actually happened. “If this is a dream, please just don’t wake me,” she gushed.