Wednesday, May 11, 2005
On the Job Training
There are some days where I wake up and dread having to go to work because I don't want to have to chase the media to pick up my story again, or don't want to have to chase after some reluctant coach and pester her to grant me an interview.
But there are days like today when I sit back and realize that in spite of everything, I love what I do. I love being able to tell stories. To make heroes out of ordinary people, and to give people voices where they had none before.
I interviewed Louisa D. for the feature story that I'm doing for the Emerald as a wrapup to the DI lacrosse season. I played with her on the club team last year, so we know each other relatively well.
The interview was a lesson in itself. Louisa turned out to be one of those people who aren't all that comfortable being interviewed. They get all formal, and lose all spontaenity, which is what you as the interviewer really want. We talked for about a half hour on-tape.
She answered my questions, but I was a little disappointed that I didn't get the perfect quote-worthy answers that had come out of her mouth the last time I bumped into her on my way to class and we'd ended up chatting for a few minutes.
At the end, I shut off the tape recorder, and allowed the conversation to revert back to a normal friend-versus-friend level. That turned out to be the best thing I could have done. The minute she thought we'd reverted back to friendly conversation, she started talking freely, and that's when all the REAL emotions and thoughts in her came flowing right out.
As soon as I realized that I'd struck the jackpot, I began taking subtle notes by hand. In the fifteen minutes we spent chatting, I got more useful quotes from Louisa than I had in the half hour prior to that.
Crafting this article has just been so much fun. To see it coming together before your eyes and then finally have it sitting in front of you is the best feeling in the world.
And now I have the best graduation present I could ever give Louisa: the story of how she rose to play DI lacrosse. In the school newspaper for her to read, keep and savor in twenty years.
Sometimes I really do love my job.
But there are days like today when I sit back and realize that in spite of everything, I love what I do. I love being able to tell stories. To make heroes out of ordinary people, and to give people voices where they had none before.
I interviewed Louisa D. for the feature story that I'm doing for the Emerald as a wrapup to the DI lacrosse season. I played with her on the club team last year, so we know each other relatively well.
The interview was a lesson in itself. Louisa turned out to be one of those people who aren't all that comfortable being interviewed. They get all formal, and lose all spontaenity, which is what you as the interviewer really want. We talked for about a half hour on-tape.
She answered my questions, but I was a little disappointed that I didn't get the perfect quote-worthy answers that had come out of her mouth the last time I bumped into her on my way to class and we'd ended up chatting for a few minutes.
At the end, I shut off the tape recorder, and allowed the conversation to revert back to a normal friend-versus-friend level. That turned out to be the best thing I could have done. The minute she thought we'd reverted back to friendly conversation, she started talking freely, and that's when all the REAL emotions and thoughts in her came flowing right out.
As soon as I realized that I'd struck the jackpot, I began taking subtle notes by hand. In the fifteen minutes we spent chatting, I got more useful quotes from Louisa than I had in the half hour prior to that.
Crafting this article has just been so much fun. To see it coming together before your eyes and then finally have it sitting in front of you is the best feeling in the world.
And now I have the best graduation present I could ever give Louisa: the story of how she rose to play DI lacrosse. In the school newspaper for her to read, keep and savor in twenty years.
Sometimes I really do love my job.
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