Last week, D and I ventured out to hear this guy speak about not only his time in Afghanistan but also, where the world of journalism is headed for the future.
He's an alumnus of our school - Ryerson University - and being back in those halls made me kinda itch a bit not only for the thrills of reporting but also, the world's-your-oyster feeling of being a student.
I suppose that's partly what drew me to teaching, that observation of wonderment and newness of topics show to people who have not yet experienced it.
Amongst the many interesting and inspirational things Smith said, there was also quite an poignant comment from an establish newspaper man in the crowd.
Someone asked him what employers are looking for these days, a typical 4th year student question, which although understandable kinda of sounded dense in the context of the conversation and certainly for someone who has been out of school for almost 10 years.
He answered the standard, 'drive, ambition, willingness to learn' etc and then he said something that hit home for me.
He said employers in the journalism are looking for people who are generally curious about the world around them, who truly want to understand how the human spirit works, who ultimately want to take a large amount of information from many sources and make it make sense to the average person.
Sometimes I have found it often difficult to explain my desire for adventure, exploration, discovery over all other things.
I often think I'm strange, clearly desiring the exact opposite of what so many others seem to want. And I guess, when he said that, I realized that I'm not strange.
There is an entire industry built around people who are extremely curious about the world and how people work in and most importantly are driven to tell others, to explain things in a way they will understand, to ultimately bring together to opposing sides or viewpoints and make them understand or at least respect the differences among the human race.
And I was part of it. And I suppose in many ways I still am. Just in a different way.
He's an alumnus of our school - Ryerson University - and being back in those halls made me kinda itch a bit not only for the thrills of reporting but also, the world's-your-oyster feeling of being a student.
I suppose that's partly what drew me to teaching, that observation of wonderment and newness of topics show to people who have not yet experienced it.
Amongst the many interesting and inspirational things Smith said, there was also quite an poignant comment from an establish newspaper man in the crowd.
Someone asked him what employers are looking for these days, a typical 4th year student question, which although understandable kinda of sounded dense in the context of the conversation and certainly for someone who has been out of school for almost 10 years.
He answered the standard, 'drive, ambition, willingness to learn' etc and then he said something that hit home for me.
He said employers in the journalism are looking for people who are generally curious about the world around them, who truly want to understand how the human spirit works, who ultimately want to take a large amount of information from many sources and make it make sense to the average person.
Sometimes I have found it often difficult to explain my desire for adventure, exploration, discovery over all other things.
I often think I'm strange, clearly desiring the exact opposite of what so many others seem to want. And I guess, when he said that, I realized that I'm not strange.
There is an entire industry built around people who are extremely curious about the world and how people work in and most importantly are driven to tell others, to explain things in a way they will understand, to ultimately bring together to opposing sides or viewpoints and make them understand or at least respect the differences among the human race.
And I was part of it. And I suppose in many ways I still am. Just in a different way.
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