Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Two weeks' notice
Two full weeks of working at the Blade now behind me. But still nothing much exciting to report. Sorry, folks.
Newspaper-wise I am still attempting to tell myself that my editors just might consider me to be a competent reporter. Right now I'm trying to come up with story ideas and work as quickly and as efficiently as possible on what I am reporting on to try to convince them that yes, despite my early days in the newsroom where I played the perfect bumbling fool and took no less than 9 hours to complete my first story with the help of four other reporters that I actually can provide what they expected: a productive, efficient, self-motivating reporting intern.
Last week I spent the better part of my day shifts compiling quotes, data and information for an investigation into health department inspections of school cafeterias. It took me three days to go over the data, find telephone numbers for the schools and start calling people. Honestly my work effort was comparable to the long, slow unproductive days at the Missourian. I did better this week. I actually spoke to people for my story and picked up another one about Veterinary office inspections.
For those who heard me yabber on last semester about my exploits reporting on rental housing inspections (about as fun as shooting yourself in the foot) it would seem ironic, and it is, that I am continuing to report on government inspections. I sent an e-mail to my professor last semester to tell him about my ironic assignments and that I had to put in records requests for each of these stories. He thought it was funny. There was one bright moment, though, I got to chalk a call to Greg and Kinnerlee Bast as "business related" because Kinnerlee is a real practicing veterinarian, albeit a South Carolinan veterinarian.
It wouldn't be so heartbreaking if I didn't feel like I was absolutely behind compared to my roomates. They're nice people and (for the most part, not accounting to absolute exhaustion at the end of the day on occasion) extremely talented but they've also taken to all this as part of the stride. Both of them were, albeit, editors of their school newspapers (one, a third, is also very good at what he does but is less experienced), but they are very good and I feel exceptionally incompetent when I compare myself to them.
So yeah, essentially that little creeping level of low self esteem that sort of infuses my psyche has definitely made itself very well known lately. Hopefuly everything will eventually pull itself together. Who knows, I may find something really intersting in these goose chases I've been on recently.
On the plus side I managed to introduce a Californian Columbia University student to her first Steak n' Shake experience this week (complete with your standard 30 minute wait on your server). I've been out a couple times with my roomates in Toledo (Toledo isn't a very exciting place, folks) in various states of consciousness with varying results. I've seen Lauren a couple of times, once over Memorial Day at her parents' house and then at a baseball game Friday with the Mud Hens who beat some Pawtucket Sox hide Red. I'm still looking for a church and direction, but there's a big United Methodist Church about 15 minutes away.
Anyway we're also an hour ahead of normal (or Central) time, and I've got to get to bed. Farewell.
Newspaper-wise I am still attempting to tell myself that my editors just might consider me to be a competent reporter. Right now I'm trying to come up with story ideas and work as quickly and as efficiently as possible on what I am reporting on to try to convince them that yes, despite my early days in the newsroom where I played the perfect bumbling fool and took no less than 9 hours to complete my first story with the help of four other reporters that I actually can provide what they expected: a productive, efficient, self-motivating reporting intern.
Last week I spent the better part of my day shifts compiling quotes, data and information for an investigation into health department inspections of school cafeterias. It took me three days to go over the data, find telephone numbers for the schools and start calling people. Honestly my work effort was comparable to the long, slow unproductive days at the Missourian. I did better this week. I actually spoke to people for my story and picked up another one about Veterinary office inspections.
For those who heard me yabber on last semester about my exploits reporting on rental housing inspections (about as fun as shooting yourself in the foot) it would seem ironic, and it is, that I am continuing to report on government inspections. I sent an e-mail to my professor last semester to tell him about my ironic assignments and that I had to put in records requests for each of these stories. He thought it was funny. There was one bright moment, though, I got to chalk a call to Greg and Kinnerlee Bast as "business related" because Kinnerlee is a real practicing veterinarian, albeit a South Carolinan veterinarian.
It wouldn't be so heartbreaking if I didn't feel like I was absolutely behind compared to my roomates. They're nice people and (for the most part, not accounting to absolute exhaustion at the end of the day on occasion) extremely talented but they've also taken to all this as part of the stride. Both of them were, albeit, editors of their school newspapers (one, a third, is also very good at what he does but is less experienced), but they are very good and I feel exceptionally incompetent when I compare myself to them.
So yeah, essentially that little creeping level of low self esteem that sort of infuses my psyche has definitely made itself very well known lately. Hopefuly everything will eventually pull itself together. Who knows, I may find something really intersting in these goose chases I've been on recently.
On the plus side I managed to introduce a Californian Columbia University student to her first Steak n' Shake experience this week (complete with your standard 30 minute wait on your server). I've been out a couple times with my roomates in Toledo (Toledo isn't a very exciting place, folks) in various states of consciousness with varying results. I've seen Lauren a couple of times, once over Memorial Day at her parents' house and then at a baseball game Friday with the Mud Hens who beat some Pawtucket Sox hide Red. I'm still looking for a church and direction, but there's a big United Methodist Church about 15 minutes away.
Anyway we're also an hour ahead of normal (or Central) time, and I've got to get to bed. Farewell.
# posted by Solon : 9:34 PM
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]