An old Staples printer paper box sat in front of me, spewing forth its contents. Instead of reams of 8.5-by-11 copy paper, old lifestyle sections, visitor guides, comics, real estate sections and business pages laid inside and scattered around the box.
It was a small fraction of my work in journalism, dating back to the late 1990s, and showing the progression of my work. Hundreds of stories stared back at me, unrecognizable. Most of these I didn’t even remember writing. Others took me right back to the interviews.
The ones I thought best illustrated my life as a reporter/photographer/illustrator/cartoonist/page designer/editor were placed into a brown grocery bag like some weird show-and-tell item. I was, after all, taking them to school.
Julie Williams, the schools’ counselor, invited me to speak with students on Jan. 10 about what it’s like to work in the newspaper industry. The talk is part of a series Williams is putting together for career planning and exploration. Speakers share how they got into their field of work, what it’s like and some of the pros and cons, among other things.
My love of newsprint started early on when my Grandma Lutz, who lived next door to us, would read the comics and horoscopes to me. When I learned to read, I read the comics and horoscopes to her. I decided at 9 years old that I wanted to be a cartoonist. My first published column and comic strip appeared nearly 30 years ago in the same paper my grandmother used to read to me.
It might have surprised some of the students when I shared that I never attended journalism school or earned a degree from a university. That’s not to say I haven’t pursued a degree. But, as any adult will tell you about making plans, life gets in the way.
Instead of going to college, then interning and starting out in the mailroom of an illustrious newspaper with “Times” in its name, I became a journalist in a roundabout way. About seven years after my brief stint as a freelance columnist and cartoonist, I was interviewed about an online comic strip I had created. The reporter who interviewed me talked to me about developing a comic strip for her lifestyle section of the Lodi News-Sentinel. We came up with an idea and I started creating a weekly strip.
Soon after that, the newspaper created a part-time web assistant position, which I applied for and got. That turned into working on the copy desk. From there, I became the lifestyle editor, the business editor and on and on. I wanted to learn as much about the newspaper business as I could, which meant staying open to doing whatever jobs I could.
That’s what I tried to impress upon the students in Williams’ class: Be curious. Remain open. Try new things to find out what you love doing.
Though I’ve been an editor for most of my career, it’s just one of nearly 25 jobs I’ve held. I’ve cleaned rental cars, delivered pizza, been a housekeeper, made custom signs, sold magazine subscriptions, designed brochures and pamphlets, programmed websites, been tech support for videogame company SEGA, worked in construction, was a shop clerk for a children’s bookstore, was a personal trainer, helped at-risk youth and was a 911 operator to name a few things.
Nothing stuck like newspapers.
Despite my cheerleading for journalism, I told the students about the drawbacks. One of the questions asked was, “What is your single least and most favorite part of working as a journalist?” The answer was the same thing: Talking to people.
I love learning about people and hearing their stories. I enjoy having a process explained to me so that I can share it with readers.
But I’m introverted and the thought of talking to people gives me enormous anxiety. One astute student asked how I get over that. My response was basically, “Fake it till you make it.”
There might not be any aspiring journalists in the class I spoke to (then again there might), but I do hope that at the very least I inspired them to pursue their passions.
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