why doesn't my intern know how to stfu?

Confidence is great in an intern... Being a bit cocky isn't a bad thing either...

Arrogance is another story. I don't care what J-school you come from or what papers you've strung for, when you're a college intern, you do not know 1/100th as much as you think you do. The sooner you realize that, the better off you'll be.

As far as being young and not knowing any better, that's only true to an extent. Plenty of interns have an inflated view of their abilities but are still smart enough to keep those feelings to themselves.

 

For all you vets out there who are tired of youngsters and their inflated view, tell them to hop over to this site. From a personal standpoint, before logging on here, I knew I was destined for a major job right out of school because of my stringing and interning experience alone. Now, with one year of school remaining and a year on this site, I'm pretty sure I'm going to get out of this sports writing thing once my degree is in hand. I've learned more than any one person could ever tell me, mostly because any one person would be too scared of offending me, my future plans and my writing. It's been an eye-opening experience. I'm glad I joined when I did.

 

Post of the year. Maybe the decade.

 

Maybe I'm not reading this right, but are you really saying this board has turned you off from a career which you've paid massive amounts of tuition to study about, planned and interned for for five years? I'm not sure why that's the post of the year. That's pretty sad.

One of the first guys I ever met in this biz told me to get out while I still had the chance. That was 13 years ago. As it turns out there are a lot like him. If you listen to people like that, God help you and reaching your goals.

 

rolling:

Don't go too far off the deep end the other way.

Remember this -- despite the chaotic state of print, there are still jobs out there, experience to be had, etc.

And this: As print opportunities diminish, there are still going to be plenty of them for a professional in this business to deliver news (and sports) electronically, on current platforms or one we can't even envision yet.

 

It's not so much "get out while you have a chance". First of all, I'm not a journalism major. I started there but determined that with the experience that I was getting outside of the j-school with a mid-major daily in the state was granting me much more education that I was getting inside the j-school. I dropped the journalism major and am a year away from getting a more general degree.

Secondly, sure I've read the threads about the dying newspaper business. Those don't make me shy away, but they do make me think. They make me think that in the not-so-distant future --one I'll be working in-- only the top X% of sportswriters are going to survive. Am I in that percentile? Probably not. I read a ton --another trick I learned here-- and know that I've got a long ways to go. Can I survive in this biz anyway? Possibly, but do I want to test it?

Also in the past year, I've met the girl I'm going to marry. I've also read a thread on here in the past year about the challenges of having a family as a sportswriter. Once again, I can do, many people have succeeded in having a family and doing this gig...but will I? Do I want to test it?

I've learned that I have talent. People tell me this quite often, much more now that I tell them I'm thinking about giving it up. I appreciate that but don't always believe them, because I do push myself and am hard on myself when my work doesn't come out just the way I picture it when I begin it. Sure, I can get a job. But will I ever get out of Podunk when I accept my first job there? Will there still be a decent job market, one I can work my way up? Maybe, but do I want to test it?

I love doing this. I really, really do. That's why I'm sticking on with my stringer gig through this year, and I wouldn't trade any of my experiences doing this over the past four-plus years for anything. But, thanks in large part to this site, I've realized a lot of things. One of which is if I start questioning doing it, then it's probably time to get out.

And nobody but myself has talked me into anything.

 

That's why it was the post of the year.

 

Rolling,
Before you get married (and you're on drugs to even be thinking about that at your age) make sure you avoid reading all the polls and scientific surveys and sob stories documenting how high the rate of divorce is.

I mean, what's the point? They say you have a talent for marriage but man, those odds are really stacked against you. So really, no point in doing it.

And also avoid any topics dealing with how a general degree in university doesn't prepare you for much more in life than a ... graduate degree, if you think some other career path will be any more strewn with roses.

Come to think of it, why are you still in school? I mean, the percentage of people who actually graduate isn't exactly all that high, is it? The odds are against you there.

Sarcasm aside, maybe the many, many people who have combined a demanding job and a family don't exactly go around bragging about it, y'know? Physicians, people who travel a lot for their job for whatever reason, overnight shift workers, the list is endless. It's only the people who are struggling that biatch about it.

Reality check: there are very few jobs in the world any more where you punch in at 9 and are out by 5, and never have to think about it in between. And even the people who do have those jobs? I'll bet their divorce rate is probably about the same.

If a marriage breaks up because of a demanding job, there's almost surely another, greater reason behind it, because one or both parties don't figure it's worth sticking with it despite the challenges, so maybe it's not all that good.

You don't even know if you're getting married yet. You don't even know if you'll ever have kids yet. And you're willing to throw away something you've wanted for quite awhile merely on the imaginary possibility that this may happen some day? Maybe you think you're being a real grown up in factoring in that "future", but in reality you're looking for reasons to bolt because you're afraid you might not succeed.

Guess what? Everybody – even Jason Whitlock, even Mizzougrad, even the most arrogant-sounding jerks on this board, feel that way too.

You're going to question a whole lot more things in the years to come. You're going to have to make some tough decisions. Maybe this is the first big one (getting an XBox or a PS2 doesn't count).
Be very, very careful how early you bail, because it'll set the tone and establish a pattern for those decisions.

You're young and you have nothing whatsoever to lose. The best time to take chances is when you have no kids, no mortgage and more energy than you will ever have again. If it doesn't work out, at least you gave it everything you had.

That's a far, far better way to go, in my humble opinion, than sitting back after working 25 years in a job you never liked, saying, 'Man, why did I not give that journalism a shot?"
At that point, it's too late to go back. Right now, you are "back." That's when you can change the future.


Good luck.

 

Because your future isn't written yet! No one's is! So make it a good one!

Cue the ZZ Top music!

"Double back again ..."

[/backtothefuture3]

 

:-*

 

Though I understand Rolling's fear, that was a great post, Ballscribe.

 

That was an excellent post, indeed, Ballscribe.

After reading, my question is: Is it not OK for me to be afraid of not succeeding? Because I can't deny that IS my biggest fear with this.