I spent six weeks doing my dream job … sort of.
Let me explain.
An opportunity to write for a newspaper opened up for me and I applied without hesitation. I applied to the Lake Placid News and Adirondack Daily Enterprise – papers that share a newsroom in Saranac Lake, NY.
After being offered and accepting the position, I couldn’t wait to get there and start living my dream of writing for a living, breathing, newspaper.
But since I accepted the offer in late February, I still had an entire semester to finish first.
I also had some pretty big firsts to cross of my list, like getting my driver’s license and a car.
Once I’d done those things and finally moved into my place in Saranac Lake with my … questionable … new roommate, I started my first day at my big girl job.
Boy, Dolly Parton said it best.
“Workin’ nine to five, what a way to make a livin’
Barely gettin’ by, it’s all takin’ and no givin'”
Wow, a nine to five job is not for the faint of heart. The first few days were mostly sitting in the office getting acquainted with my new coworkers and the new software I’d be using to write stories. But after that it was go, go, go!
I was covering all sorts of different events all over the towns the papers serve.
It was honestly exhausting. As a night person, completely flipping my schedule around was really rough for the first week or so.
Once I got into a better sleep routine, however, I started getting excited to wake up early and go to work.
After the first week or so, I got to start suggesting some story ideas as well. This made the job 10 times more enjoyable.
My favorite story I got to write was a trip up Whiteface Mountain. Whiteface Mountain was the first mountain in the U.S. to have highway access. So, with my brand-new car and freshly minted driver’s license, I headed up the 4867 feet mountain.
You can’t drive all the way up to the peak, so I had to climb the last 400 feet up.
Climbing the mountain was not only exercise but it also gave way to one of the most beautiful views I’ve ever seen.
I was stunned by how far I could see from the peak.
I sat at the top for a while and thought about the things that had led me here. Not only was I here at all, but I was there alone.
Never in a million years did I imagine I’d be climbing a mountain by myself and getting paid to do it.
Though I’ve had a bunch of internships in the past and have even written for other newspapers, this was the first time I was actually able to feel proud of myself and my accomplishments.
Entering this new environment where I didn’t know anybody and was learning everything for the first time was really scary. Seeing how far I’d come from where I started my journalism journey in high school was so fulfilling.
Moving forward, I am definitely trying to give myself some more grace and stop comparing myself to others. A lot of the time I feel like I don’t do enough or as much as others.
But this summer I covered graduation, met Senator Kirsten Gillibrand at a statue unveiling, helped a first responder find new housing, and climbed physical and mental mountains to better myself and my journalism practices.