Write For The School Paper, Kids

One of my biggest educational regrets is that I didn’t even try to write for my community college newspaper. I should have, but I didn’t.

I took one journalism class during my community college years, and it was easily the most fun class I’ve ever taken. My professor was awesome, we got to watch “All the President’s Men” during class, and I had the opportunity to interview the Lead Groundskeeper for an article I co-wrote with two other students.

I still remember walking up to the groundskeeping building (for lack of a better term—I don’t know what to call that place) to find the guy I was looking for. It was a bright, beautiful day and there might as well have been a full album of peppy TV show theme songs playing in the background.

I was nervous and ridiculously confident at the same time. Nervous because I was a huge introvert. Confident because if anyone questioned me, I could tell them I was there to do an interview for the school paper. It felt like an instant backstage pass.

The worst part is, I don’t really remember why I didn’t continue down the path of writing for the paper. My best guess is that at the time, I had some pretty bad tunnel vision. I probably thought of journalism as nothing more than an elective.

All that to say, making one of my podcast characters a reporter for a school paper was an obvious move for me. I hope you guys enjoy this week’s episode!

Tune in to Burning Rock Radio here.