My First Real Job

Twenty-five years ago, my father helped me move from Baltimore to Lebanon, Pennsylvania, so I could begin my first real job as a reporter for the Lebanon Daily News.

As a recent college graduate, I was excited and nervous, and maybe even scared to move to a new place where I didn’t know anyone. But I wanted to give journalism a try, and I couldn’t wait to get started.

When we said goodbye, I told my father that I didn’t know when I would see him next. I wasn’t sure whether I would have weekends off. I figured reporters worked all the time. My father just let me talk, knowing full well that no newspaper was going to work me 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. He was right, of course. I got two days off every week.

As I’ve been reminiscing about how I started my career, I’ve been seeing conversations online about how young people are trying to find “Lazy Girl Jobs.” Apparently, some members of Generation Z are trying to find remote, undemanding jobs that allow them to have a healthy work-life balance with a high enough salary for them to be satisfied.

As a member of Generation X, I have to admit that work-life balance wasn’t a phrase I had heard—and it certainly wasn’t something I was looking for when I was job hunting as a young, single college grad. I was excited to have a job, and I was thrilled to land a position at a daily newspaper. It was a dream come true for me.

On the first morning of my job, I found my desk and the ancient computer on it, and the editors put me to work. Later that morning, I was working at my desk when a thoughtful copy editor came over to talk with me.

“Don’t forget to take time for lunch,” she said. “No one will ever tell you it’s time for lunch.”

That was good advice—and she was absolutely right.

I happily worked many, many hours in that first job, starting early and staying late. There was always another story to tell. There was always more news to cover. I was perfectly content to be there with one ear on the police scanner in the evening while typing up interviews I had conducted earlier in the day.

There is nothing like a small daily newspaper to teach you how to talk to anyone and everyone, how to write quickly and accurately, and how to work under pressure. I covered all kinds of stories, learned how to strike up conversations with strangers in the Walmart parking lot, and met the most fascinating people.

I said yes to every assignment, every opportunity. One of my fellow reporters invited me to work on a series on the drug trade in Lebanon with her, and we ended up winning an award.

Along the way, I came up with an idea for a short book. I conducted interviews and gathered memories related to a train station that the Annville community was working to rebuild. I wrote the book and let the people raising money to build the station publish and sell it to raise money for the train station.

When you’re 22 and you find great joy in storytelling, writing a book is the perfect way to fill your free time.

I was so green and inexperienced, but the editors at that newspaper were true teachers and mentors. When the time was right, about 18 months later, they encouraged me to go on to a bigger newspaper, which I did. Then at some point, I found the opportunity to leave journalism and enter the world of public relations, which has been its own wonderful journey.

My father used to ask me whether I would ever stay at any job for more than a few years, but he hasn’t asked me that for a while. I’ve been in my current job for almost 15 years. I feel extremely blessed to have the job I have—and to love what I do.

Not every position has been perfect, but every job has given me skills I could use somewhere else, and every workplace has led to some beautiful friendships.

I hope when our children look to start their careers, I hope they aren’t looking for a job just to pay the bills—or a job that would be seen as a “Lazy Person’s Job.” I hope they find a job that challenges them, draws on their talents, and where they have whatever work-life balance they’re seeking. But I do hope they can learn and grow and see their job as more than a job.

There is a purpose and a value to doing good work and doing it well. And the right job can be lots of fun.

“Professional work is also an apostolate, an opportunity to give ourselves to others, to reveal Christ to them and lead them to God the Father,” Saint Josemaria Escriva said.

What a beautiful way to think about work.

Sometimes I feel as if I’m not that different from that nervous 22-year-old trying to find her footing in a fast-paced newsroom, but I know I’ve learned and grown in many ways. And I’m grateful to be on this journey.

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