They call me Mr. Chips

May 18, 2009

I stood in front of a classroom of my peers today and taught my first lesson – on the Five Ws of journalism (who, what, when, where and why). The professor, Dr. David Gorlewski, had instructed us to teach our first lesson on something we were familiar with, so I chose the obvious from Journalism 101. I did a fairly credible job in my 10 minutes at the head of the class. I felt like I was babbling wildly, stuttering and doing a fairly average job. (It's strange how your mind races when you speak publicly.) My classmates kindly told me afterward that I had performed admirably. I would assess my performance as OK, enough to get by in my first foray into teaching.

I later told the Blessed Wife that it was like an infant taking his first uncertain step, the first stride in a long and arduous journey. (The longest journey begins with the first step.) I am starting to make my way.

I also visited with the head of the D’Youville College Learning Center and could possibly do some work for her this summer reading essays written by incoming freshmen during Orientation Week. The Blessed Wife also was able to network for me and get a commitment for me to teach a couple of writing seminars at the college this fall for the a special population of multicultural students.

Things are starting to gel a little bit. My sister-in-law might get me into her school for special-needs youths as a teacher’s aide this summer or fall. I know people in the Williamsville School District who might be able to get me in there as a teacher’s aide as well. I need to get some education experience on my resume. As it now stands, it’s almost all newspaper experience. Plus, I'd like to work while I'm going to school. It would give me valuable experience. I'm not a big fan of unemployment benefits; it's like accepting public assistance, although everyone says you've paid into the unemployment fund for 30-some years, you might as well reap some benefits.

Also, the only luck I’ve had since leaving The News is through networking. A “headhunter” told me that last month. He advised against papering the town with resumes and answering classified ads for jobs. A worthless pursuit, he said. My advice for those who have quit their jobs or have been furloughed is to network. Especially in tough economic times, that seems to be the only way to open doors. Otherwise, it seems you can be smart and industrious and no one will even take a look at you.

So if you are a displaced worker who has stumbled on my blog, get to networking. It’s as clear and as simple as that.

For the first time in weeks, I’m mentally exhausted from a day of hard mental work (a good feeling). So I’m going to cut this entry short. I will keep reciting the mantra -- study, succeed, Masters, teach, success. My road is uphill but I think I will be able to make that climb. What a great feeling it will be to summit that mountaintop, and I will do it at some point next year.

I know there is so much I’ve omitted from these blogs. Hopefully I will improve with these efforts as well.

Today, I was a teacher for 10 minutes.