Not that exciting but it does give me something to talk about
Career Day! It isn’t often that someone comes knocking to ask if I’d like to share a little of my life experience with young and impressionable minds. When it does occur, I typically feel the person doing the asking has obviously mistaken longevity for wisdom — or at the very least assumed the two go hand in hand.
Having been a freelance writer for nearly three decades doesn’t necessarily make me the best person to put in a plug for the career. Had I been enormously successful at the endeavor, I would at this very moment be stretched out in a beach lounger sipping a virgin margarita while watching the sun sink into a tropical sea. But since Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists and authors of New York Times Best Sellers are in relatively short supply here in the greater Wayne County area, I was asked to represent the craft to a morning’s worth of seventh-graders at a local middle school. It’s a job I take to heart, imposter syndrome be danged!
One thing I’ve come to expect when showing up for a presentation in any modern classroom is cutting edge computer technology will be readily at hand. Accordingly, I always make sure to come prepared with a slick, fun, well-thought-out presentation I can simply plug into the system to set the room abuzz with thought. A second thing I’ve come to expect is this same technology almost never works according to plan.
This is probably just as well. I mean how exciting could a slide show about writing even be? “OK, kids, here’s a picture of me sitting at my computer at 4:30 in the morning with a cup of coffee and a cat in my lap while trying to make my deadline with a column about puffball fungi. When I’m finished, I’ll head off to eight hours at the job that actually pays my bills. Doesn’t that sound awesome?”
As if to further emphasize the admittedly low-key work-a-day life of a freelance writer, I was paired for this particular event with a representative from the complete opposite end of the career excitement spectrum — a professional firefighter. He arrived in a crisp uniform, came fully equipped with turn-out gear and a self-contained breathing apparatus, and had an awesome slide show complete with burning buildings and upside-down automobiles. I was every bit as awestruck as the rest of the kids in the classroom.
Excitement aside, the kids were very attentive and inquisitive for both presentations. In one redeeming moment, I even had a kid remind me that if it wasn’t for writers and the rest of the folks who bring us the news, “We would never know half of the awesome stuff that firefighters, police officers and soldiers do every day.”
I think that particular kid might grow up to become a career counselor or at the very least a self-esteem coach.
Kristin and John Lorson would love to hear from you. Write Drawing Laughter, P.O. Box 170, Fredericksburg, OH 44627, or email John at jlorson@alonovus.com.
