Jami the Un-Journalist

I've always been a writer, since, I guess, I could write. I've always made up stories just to amuse myself and I do like playing with words. I like getting the sounds just right. So, in high school, when you start to think about what you'll be someday, and you get past the unrealistic stuff, like I'm going to be a famous actress/singer/astronaut and work with children, my thoughts turned to journalism. I like action, I like writing and the school newspaper seemed like it would be a natural fit. I took Journalism 1 and 2 and did fine. However, I learned two important things: 1. They don't like it when you make up the endings (or even middle) to make it a better story and 2. You can't put much of "yourself" into the story, if you know what I mean. Most working journalists who aren't opinion columnists don't get to have a very distinctive style, IMO. Maybe you think I'm wrong and that you can tell just reading the first 'graph who the byline will be, but mostly it's a standard, flair-less pursuit. In high school, I often would be looking for just the right quote to fill out an article and I found a great method. I'd find a friend, explain my story and say "Could I quote you as saying . . . " and miraculously I always got just the quote I needed. I believe this may stretch the boundaries of good journalistic ethics. I do sometimes wonder how I'd have done in the field. Perhaps I'd have found a niche, like sports reporting where you can add some more personality. Or maybe I'd be Dave Barry with a better haircut. Due to some confusion during my Journ 2 class, I didn't get to try my hand at column writing, which probably would have been my best bet. I soured on the whole newsprint thing and went to college to major in the Discipline of Speech Communications, with a Focus on Broadcasting (is what my curriculum was entitled) intent on directing TV news. Along the way, I fell in love with radio, and even though I interned in TV, I stuck with radio for quite a few years after that. My radio work led me to the job I had in software design, a field I surely never considered. Isn't it odd the path life leads you down?