Three months ago and 1,000 miles away, a Midwestern girl landed in New York City with three vast hopes.
The first was she could cling to her random roommate to avoid the fact she knew no one in the Big Apple. The second was that she’d be somewhat qualified for her internship. And the third was that her wardrobe would only whisper, rather than scream, out of towner.
Surprise, surprise – this girl was me. And to my shock and amazement, all three of my hopes became realities.
Upon attending club openings and reviewing $375 facials for “work”, I made three lifelong friends, was asked to continue writing freelance for my company and spent enough money on Fifth and Madison Avenues to fool fashion critics into thinking I have something close to a sense of style.
In the process, I, of course, learned more about journalism and myself. However, one of my biggest lessons learned came from a conversation with a boss about none other than what you’re reading right now – newspapers.
Sunk into a corner of a twentieth floor office, U2’s former manager (aka the president of my company and one of the most intimidating men in the western hemisphere) mentioned a name, with which I am still not familiar.
Thinking he’d forgotten I was an out-of-city intern who wouldn’t know most people the average employee would, I politely informed him I wasn’t acquainted with Richard Whoever.
But with a repeat of the name in a voice of disbelief, I realized Mr. Heiman expected me to know who this man was, regardless of who I was.
“Don’t you read the newspapers?” he chided, not masking an ounce of feeling that he thought I was ridiculously uninformed and naïve.
I felt like I’d been punched in my stomach.
“Unbelievable,” Heiman yelled, with a motion to get out of his office.
Walking back to my desk, I was beyond disappointed, realizing I’d lost some points I’d worked really hard to accumulate.
The ironic thing about this situation is I do read newspapers. Blame it on being a journalism major, liking to read and liking to be aware of the news of the day, but I seem to be one of the few collegians who enjoys the feeling of paper between my fingertips.
And still – living in Jon & Kate Plus 8-clouded culture, I didn’t have the slightest clue who this supposedly important public figure was.
Knowing what’s going on in the world, in your city and at your school is important.
News is an ever-changing and expanding cycle, of which we all inevitably miss bits and pieces. However, making the solid effort to learn and understand is something every adult should do.
Because of our media-frantic, celebrity-obsessed culture, we have to work harder to dig out news than generations before us have.
However, if my situation shows anything, it’s that paying attention to the news is worth it. It can get you ahead with your professors or introduce you to important issues you may want to be a part of.
If we don’t know what’s going on around us, how are we to engage in intelligent conversations or form educated opinions on issues that impact us?
The Scout is your gateway to understanding Bradley, and being informed about the university’s events, policy changes and people.
If you don’t think activities go on around campus, you’d never heard of Sakai before this year or you think University President Joanne Glasser is the creator of Campus/TAP, you probably weren’t an avid reader of the Scout last year.
But it’s our job and commitment to you to make it worth reading this year.
And picking up the Peoria Journal Star, Chicago Tribune or New York Times probably wouldn’t be a bad idea either.
Emily Regenold is a senior journalism major from Cincinnati. She is the Scout managing editor.
Direct questions, comments and other responses to eregenold@mail.bradley.edu.
