You can’t change who you are

November 10, 2014

Filed under: Career,Spring 2014 — carlosgieseken @ 6:08 pm

One of the things I enjoy about social media, in addition to staying in touch with family and old friends, is the constant stream of motivational messages that are posted by people and organizations. Sure, they can sometimes be annoying. But they can also be exactly what you need to hear on certain days.

I’ve seen a lot lately about “staying true to who you are” and “following your passion.”

With that in mind, I’ve accepted a reporter position with the Pensacola News Journal in Pensacola, Fla.

I’m going back to my roots, since I went to grad school for journalism back at the turn of the century in Boston. My first job was as an editorial assistant at the Boston Herald. Later, I was a general assignment and higher education reporter at the Stevens Point Journal in Stevens Point, Wisc.

I have enjoyed learning about business the last year and a half. But I loved being a reporter. A few years ago, while living in Austin and working as a web content writer at the Texas Department of Transportation, I did a small article for a blog in the area. The process of researching, interviewing, and writing got my blood pumping like it hadn’t since I’d left the paper in Wisconsin. It was an overwhelming feeling that hadn’t completely left me.

Over the last couple of months I’d thought a lot about the abandoned dream I had of being a reporter for a magazine like Esquire or Newsweek some day and it ate at me that I’d given up on that. So when the opportunity in Pensacola presented itself, I decided it was worth it to give journalism another go.

The best part is I’ll be covering business, so I’ll get to use all these things I’ve learned in the past year and a half. I visited Pensacola this past weekend and absolutely fell in love with it. All the people I met at the paper were super cool and I can’t tell you how friendly the people of Pensacola are. I couldn’t be more excited to start there in early January.

Plus, living by the beach is probably not the worst thing in the world.

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