Wednesday, April 08, 2009
It's been a long time...
...and I've really only got two (uh, three) words for you:I am scared...
...for real this time.
(Okay, maybe seven words.)
Next month I turn 24. I'll be completely out of school. And, most importantly, I'll be moving to Baltimore, MD for a three month internship with the Associated Press.
From there I'd like to eventually move to New York City...live the rest of my 20s and some of my 30s in the Big Apple.
With the economy in shingles (not to mention the news business), I feel I'm taking a rather large gamble by making such a drastic move. I'm a California-boy, through and through. I've never lived anywhere but here. Adjusting to a new environment won't be a problem for me, but the thought of leaving this all behind both excites and scares me.
I'm thinking the nerves are normal. But my gut tells me that moving out of state with little in savings, no functioning vehicle and no "home base" (yet), and especially right now, is more than a little bit risky.
I happened to be on the bus today talking to a colleague about my concerns. A stranger, who admitted she'd been ear hustling our conversation the entire time, offered this advice*:
(*paraphrased) "Move to New York. If that's your dream, just do it. Things will work themselves out, especially if you have the drive. You don't want to look back on life and wonder what could have been."
Amen, sister.
I'm confident that I'll do well almost anywhere I go. There is, however, a part of me that feels like I'd be letting myself down if I didn't charge full steam ahead with a plan that I've had since my junior year in high school. That plan? Move to NYC, get a journalism job, write and produce my little heart out, go wild (date), and eventually pen a few books.
I'm ready. (I've got to be.) But is that enough?
Labels: growing pains, inspiration, the industry
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Given the state of the industry it's not unusual to have fearts, to have doubts, to be apprehensive.
You're remarkably talented and aim to produce great journalist works.
I have faith, you'll be fine.
Keep the faith.
Work hard.
Do your best work.
Be true to yourself and to your calling.
Then it will be recognized and rewarded appropriately.
For someone with as much drive, passion for the biz and common sense as you, getting in this business and lasting is just going to be part of your life success. We're all scared like nobody's business now, but it's sink or swim, and I think we know what we're gonna do as young black journos. Handle yours, A-Money, and you know we got your back.
fearts? As in farts?