8390: Day One (Tuesday)
Ever since August of 1989, I have been doing the same thing in my life, sitting in classrooms and learning. Sure, there have been vacations and things of that nature, but I've been in school in one way or another for the last 17 years. Riding the bus to kindergarten on the first day probably seemed intimidating, but with things like money and career advancement and deadline pressure to worry about, I knew that today, January 2, 2007, I was beginning something I've never even touched before: the professional life. Between here and there, I'm certain that there are thousands of surprises, some good, some bad. The one thing I know is that every career has a
I was asked to let them get the paper out before coming in to work today. I didn't exactly make a huge savings on sleep, as this still meant I needed to be at work at 10, which, given the commute (which Mapquest says is exactly 51.71 miles, one way), meant I still needed to be out of the house an hour or more before 10. I was doing well. Filled with excitement, I was in and out of the shower pretty early, had all of my clothes and bags ready to go.
Then, I went outside and found that my windshield was covered in a layer of frost so thick, I had to scrape it twice. Even then, my work was inadequate, which I found as I went down the road. Seeing as the sun had already risen, it was shining into my face (and the frost on the windshield) and blinding me. I had to stop, get out at Little Lake and scrape some more to avoid getting into an accident. The whole ride down, as I'm listening to the CD I burned the night before (featuring the "War" montage music from Rocky IV), I'm basically staring right into the sun, and beginning to run late. I checked my phone maybe a thousand times between Gladstone and Escanaba. The last thing I wanted to do was create a horrendous first impression. Traffic in Escanaba was managable, and I probably would have been right on the mark if I'd decided to speed down Ludington St., which is marked at the excrutiatingly slow speed of 25 mph. The paper is well down that street. I pulled in right at 10 a.m. and showed up in the office at about 10:02. Nothing was made of it.
I don't know how much is appropriate to discuss, but I'll go through the basics. I was greeted and welcomed by Rick (he's the executive editor). I arrived a little after Kim, who was being hired for news today as well. Apparently this double hiring thing is unusual. We were given the grand tour of the building by Rick. I got to meet and greet the sports department, the full-time staff of which is Denny (who has been here forever) and Dan (who I am replacing). I will have a nice little desk near the employee entrance. I'll have to take pictures and show everyone. However, for now, I don't really have a home until Dan leaves on Friday. There was a lot to discuss just related to sports. It didn't take me long to get my first assignment. Since it was Tuesday, it would be basketball night, and Gladstone was at home against Munising. I was going to be there.
It didn't take long for it to become lunch. I had my cold Rodney's pizza and talked with Kim. She was apparently editor-in-chief at the North Wind. I never ascended too far at CM Life, but that doesn't matter now. We're tied in seniority. I look forward to working every day with people who care about this stuff as much as I do.
I spent the afternoon trying to get my bearings. There was some time doing research on the game I'd be going to later that night, and I got an assignment about a local hockey player who was hearing-impaired that made a national team for the Deaflympics. By 3:30, I headed out of the office, knowing that I'd be going to the game.
I decided to drive all the way back home, which doesn't make much sense. The high school in Gladstone is at least 10-12 miles closer to home than the office, but in hindsight, wasting half a tank of gas in one day was probably unwise. I did get a homecooked meal (Hamburger Helper and just barely), a little rest and an opportunity to relax at home for a little while.
Then, it was right back out to the game. Gladstone, 5-1, was taking on winless Munising, and the game went predictably. Gladstone played tight defense and had the game on ice by halftime. All the while, I was scribbling down notes and trying to see everything I could see. It was not a good game, but that doesn't excuse a bad story. After it was all over, I got quotes from both coaches and Gladstone's leading scorer (he had only 11, as almost everyone in Gladstone's team got a lot of time, which is to be expected when there is almost a full half of garbage time). I got a hold of the scorebooks and took all of the stats for the box score and then went home, happy I'd gotten everything I needed.
About two miles from the school, I realized I'd never gotten the JV and freshman scores (this almost always runs at the bottom of the article). I immediately turned around and hoped I could get a hold of a coach. I couldn't, but ended up finding out from a fan that both Gladstone teams won. It wasn't the best, but it was enough for tonight. I'd double-check it in the morning.
I had an hour to think about how I was going to write it, and once I'd taken my shoes off and caught a eulogy or two from the President Ford funeral, I got down to work. I took my time, since I wasn't on deadline, and in about 90 minutes, I had a game story I could be proud of calling my first byline. I e-mailed it to a friend to proofread it for me, and she agreed it was pretty solid. I e-mailed it to Denny and went about the rest of the evening.
I had to get to bed at a much more reasonable hour. Tomorrow, I have to be at work at 9 (I get those hours back in the morning that I spent at the game), and the day after that, 7 a.m. (and I have to be out of bed 2 hours before that).
So, that's the end of day one of my venture out into the big, scary professional world. However, I know that there are a lot more days to come, even more than the ones that came after my first bus ride. Good night.
I was asked to let them get the paper out before coming in to work today. I didn't exactly make a huge savings on sleep, as this still meant I needed to be at work at 10, which, given the commute (which Mapquest says is exactly 51.71 miles, one way), meant I still needed to be out of the house an hour or more before 10. I was doing well. Filled with excitement, I was in and out of the shower pretty early, had all of my clothes and bags ready to go.
Then, I went outside and found that my windshield was covered in a layer of frost so thick, I had to scrape it twice. Even then, my work was inadequate, which I found as I went down the road. Seeing as the sun had already risen, it was shining into my face (and the frost on the windshield) and blinding me. I had to stop, get out at Little Lake and scrape some more to avoid getting into an accident. The whole ride down, as I'm listening to the CD I burned the night before (featuring the "War" montage music from Rocky IV), I'm basically staring right into the sun, and beginning to run late. I checked my phone maybe a thousand times between Gladstone and Escanaba. The last thing I wanted to do was create a horrendous first impression. Traffic in Escanaba was managable, and I probably would have been right on the mark if I'd decided to speed down Ludington St., which is marked at the excrutiatingly slow speed of 25 mph. The paper is well down that street. I pulled in right at 10 a.m. and showed up in the office at about 10:02. Nothing was made of it.
I don't know how much is appropriate to discuss, but I'll go through the basics. I was greeted and welcomed by Rick (he's the executive editor). I arrived a little after Kim, who was being hired for news today as well. Apparently this double hiring thing is unusual. We were given the grand tour of the building by Rick. I got to meet and greet the sports department, the full-time staff of which is Denny (who has been here forever) and Dan (who I am replacing). I will have a nice little desk near the employee entrance. I'll have to take pictures and show everyone. However, for now, I don't really have a home until Dan leaves on Friday. There was a lot to discuss just related to sports. It didn't take me long to get my first assignment. Since it was Tuesday, it would be basketball night, and Gladstone was at home against Munising. I was going to be there.
It didn't take long for it to become lunch. I had my cold Rodney's pizza and talked with Kim. She was apparently editor-in-chief at the North Wind. I never ascended too far at CM Life, but that doesn't matter now. We're tied in seniority. I look forward to working every day with people who care about this stuff as much as I do.
I spent the afternoon trying to get my bearings. There was some time doing research on the game I'd be going to later that night, and I got an assignment about a local hockey player who was hearing-impaired that made a national team for the Deaflympics. By 3:30, I headed out of the office, knowing that I'd be going to the game.
I decided to drive all the way back home, which doesn't make much sense. The high school in Gladstone is at least 10-12 miles closer to home than the office, but in hindsight, wasting half a tank of gas in one day was probably unwise. I did get a homecooked meal (Hamburger Helper and just barely), a little rest and an opportunity to relax at home for a little while.
Then, it was right back out to the game. Gladstone, 5-1, was taking on winless Munising, and the game went predictably. Gladstone played tight defense and had the game on ice by halftime. All the while, I was scribbling down notes and trying to see everything I could see. It was not a good game, but that doesn't excuse a bad story. After it was all over, I got quotes from both coaches and Gladstone's leading scorer (he had only 11, as almost everyone in Gladstone's team got a lot of time, which is to be expected when there is almost a full half of garbage time). I got a hold of the scorebooks and took all of the stats for the box score and then went home, happy I'd gotten everything I needed.
About two miles from the school, I realized I'd never gotten the JV and freshman scores (this almost always runs at the bottom of the article). I immediately turned around and hoped I could get a hold of a coach. I couldn't, but ended up finding out from a fan that both Gladstone teams won. It wasn't the best, but it was enough for tonight. I'd double-check it in the morning.
I had an hour to think about how I was going to write it, and once I'd taken my shoes off and caught a eulogy or two from the President Ford funeral, I got down to work. I took my time, since I wasn't on deadline, and in about 90 minutes, I had a game story I could be proud of calling my first byline. I e-mailed it to a friend to proofread it for me, and she agreed it was pretty solid. I e-mailed it to Denny and went about the rest of the evening.
I had to get to bed at a much more reasonable hour. Tomorrow, I have to be at work at 9 (I get those hours back in the morning that I spent at the game), and the day after that, 7 a.m. (and I have to be out of bed 2 hours before that).
So, that's the end of day one of my venture out into the big, scary professional world. However, I know that there are a lot more days to come, even more than the ones that came after my first bus ride. Good night.