I loved to write when I was a girl. I didn’t just love the writing process; I loved the tools of the trade. Books, notepads, pens, and pencils always have been some of my favorite possessions. They still are today.
My obsession with office supplies developed into a love of all things written. Even before I could write “real” letters, I would draw squiggles and present them to my appropriately-impresses mother. “That does look just like an L,” she would gush. I would beam, as if the creation of anything written was a special talent.
Before long I was reading and writing. My weekends consisted of hours of lying on my bed reading or writing chapter books in spiral-bound notebooks. Writing just seemed natural to me then. It still does.
It wasn’t until high school that I discovered journalism as a professional option. What my husband described as “writing essays a day,” a function he couldn’t imagine performing, was a dream vocation to me. I couldn’t believe someone actually paid me to interview people and write about them. It was a dream job.
In truth, I’ve been an aspiring journalist my entire life. It’s fair to say I’ve always felt that journalism is my “calling.”
Perhaps this is why a study by Dr. Tracy Callaway-Russo from the University of Kansas resonated so much with me. The study included a section about anticipatory and vocational socialization. Basically, the journalists interviewed spoke about how they always wanted to be journalists, having identified the profession during their youth. The journalists reported that they began writing in grade school, spent time reading newspapers with family members or even “worked” at their family’s newspaper.
“I knew by the time I was in the seventh grade I was going to be a journalist. And I never thought about being anything else,” one journalist reported (p. 84).
Another reported: “It just infiltrated my life. From the Kennedys and Vietnam and the wars… it never occurred to me to think about anything else” (p. 84).
A columnist described her route into journalism like this: “I never thought about anything else. I even started as a kid in elementary school. My path to school took me past the emergency room entrance to the county hospital. And I would stop if I saw a big accident and ask the cops what was going on and go in to a pay phone and call the city desk… I was the only third grader who knew every organized crime figure in town” (p. 84).
I’ve claimed for years that most journalists are “wired” this way. I’ve discussed it with journalist friends, who describe their childhood hobbies in much the same way I describe mine. I watch in classrooms to see which student’s eyes light up when I talk about journalism as a calling and how I think these things may be an indicator (Yes, I’m now a journalism professor. Don’t worry, a love of pens and notebooks also meant I played “teacher” a lot as a youth.). It’s nice to have a bit of academic support for my informal theories.
susansilver says
When we got a computer in the house. My father’s company gave the employees their own PC. At a very young age I was using a mac and writing stories. I was encouraged to continue by my parents and never stopped. I knew by 5th grade that it was the profession that I wanted to work in, but it took me a long time to embrace it. That is another story.
profkrg says
@susansilver Susan,
You had a computer in your home in the fifth grade? Aren’t you fancy. We didn’t have a computer until well into my university years. Unfortunately for me, that was probably about the same time you were in fifth grade. 😉
Thanks for reading and commenting. I would love to hear the story about your unwillingness to embrace writing as a profession. It’s not easy, but nothing worth doing is, right?
Have a great weekend!
Kenna
Charity Kountz says
My love of writing started so small. I would say it probably began when I failed Kindergarten. I simply couldn’t sit still or stop talking with my classmates. How did this failure lead to my success as an author? It brought an amazing woman into my life, named Mrs. Sample, who tutored me with the utmost patience for almost two years. She gave me one of the most precious gifts of my life: a love and thirst for learning.
As a result, I thrived and developed a love of words and reading. It started with Dick, Jane, and Spot. By the time I was 10 years old I was reading Stephen King and started to think maybe I wanted to be just like him. I participated in two spelling bees in middle school, one of which I placed locally. By my freshman year in high school, I had been journaling for several years and enrolled in AP English. Our first assignment was to write a short story about a girl in an alley in a dark night. I wrote 14 pages in one day and titled the story “Dark Walk”. The story itself was a mess but the enthusiasm and thrill I got from working on it hooked me from that point on. Now, almost 20 years later, I’m a successful published author with a novel coming out this fall. And to think, it all started with failing Kindergarten.
profkrg says
@Charity Kountz What a classic example of failure breeding success. It seems to me that perhaps Kindergarten failed you. You just weren’t made for classroom sitting. Either way, it all worked out!
Thanks for reading and commenting, Charity. I always enjoy your stories and insight.
Kenna
Charity Kountz says
@profkrg So true and I agree. That actually was a hallmark of my entire education career and is still with me today. I have completed over 80 college credits but still have no degree to speak of other than a degree in Life Experiences. My daughter is five and shows all the hallmarks of being the same. To avoid her having the same experiences, she’s has been enrolled in a private Christian school for pre-k and Kindergarten. I am happy to say she is well above average of her peers and simply thriving. She’s already reading at a first grade level and Kindergarten only started a month ago. I’m sure I’ll have my hands full with her but she is definitely going to have a better education than I did. I will make sure of that. 🙂
Great feedback Prof! Definitely enjoying getting to know you!
welchwb says
Quite contrary to this, I discovered my passion for journalism during college. My family never paid much attention to the media and I’m from a small town where we have one paper that hardly ever covers our section of the county. I figured I needed to do something active in college, stumbled across the school’s magazine and soon found myself staying in the magazine’s office for days at a time.
profkrg says
@welchwb Well, I’m really glad you figured it out! Best of luck!
jkrolldigital says
Short answer, in grade school thanks to a wise teacher who helped me realize it was OK to have an imaginationt. Long answer here: http://johnkrolldigital.com/?p=112
rizveevee says
profkrg I’m so glad I follow you. Thanks for all the great advice & journalism encouragement!
profkrg says
rizveevee you are so welcome! This makes me super happy.
profkrg says
LaureenLMP Student newspaper?
LaureenLMP says
Grant High School Odyssey RT profkrg: LaureenLMP Student newspaper? http://twitter.com/LaureenLMP/status/643602292231524353/photo/1