Ten years ago I came to N.C. State. Now hold on, I know what you’re thinking, “This guy’s been here for 10 years.”
No, it’s not as sad as you think. I actually graduated and worked for nearly four years in the middle.
But yes, I am old. I was already in college while some of you were mastering your multiplication tables and playing kickball at recess.
See, when I came to State, the first time, I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up. All I knew was I was happy to be on my own and finally able to make my own decisions, of which I certainly took advantage.
It took until the end of my sophomore year to finally decide on a major — horticulture science. And when I did, it was based solely on the fact that a lot of my friends were already in the major and they said it was cool.
Not a good basis for making such an important reason, but I did it.
During school, though, it wasn’t so bad. Learn a few plant names, spend some time in the greenhouse, I enjoyed it.
But then, before I knew it, four years were gone and I had to get a job — a job I hadn’t given a whole lot of thought.
I did, however, get two good job offers in the horticulture field right before graduation. One in Atlanta and one here in Raleigh as a sales representative for a landscape chemical company.
I took the one in Raleigh and worked there for a little more than a year, before I realized sales, of any kind, was not for me. And to those who are considering sales as a career, be sure you’re selling something you believe will benefit the buyer. Because if you aren’t, being a sales representative is a miserable existence.
Anyway, I quit that job in a firing scene that would have made Rick ‘Wild Thing’ Vaughn jealous and got a job with a small company doing landscape installation and maintenance. The job was low stress, but with the low stress came low money and the work was hard and hot.
So, I started looking for another job in the horticulture field. But then one day, while I was wasting time in the landscaping truck watching my crew mow grass, I started doing some soul searching.
I asked myself if it was the jobs I hated, or was it my chosen field? The answer was the chosen field.
I couldn’t think of a single job that had to do with plants that would make me want to get out of bed in the morning. Except maybe a job smoking them, but that’s against the law.
The only thing that kept popping up in my head was sports. I’ve been a sports fanatic my entire life.
I mean, I can tell you every NCAA basketball national champion since 1965, in order, and I can name the starting lineup for the 1986 Boston Red Sox. See, I told you I was old.
But how was I going incorporate sports into my career, considering I had given up on getting a call from my beloved Red Sox asking me to come play centerfield?
Finally, it hit me. I had always enjoyed writing and people make a living writing about sports. It was perfect.
So in August 2005 I came back to school. Which, by the way is really easy if you’ve already graduated. Just fill out a one page form and send them a check and you’re in.
Once I got back, I set my sights on finding a place to write about sports and sent an email to then Sports Editor Tanner Kroeger, who passed it on to then Deputy Sports Editor Josh Harrell, who actually returned the message. Thanks Tanner.
Josh sent me to a women’s tennis match that first weekend and boom, I was a sports writer. Just like that I had gone from landscaper to journalist. Well, kind of.
Not to knock women’s tennis, but it’s not exactly the sport I was covering in my dreams, but it was a start and I enjoyed it.
From there I got to cover baseball and softball, and then football and basketball.
It was great. I was actually getting paid, albeit not a lot, to watch sports and describe it to people. I can honestly say every time I cover a game, I smile thinking about doing this for the rest of my life.
So here I am about to go into the real world again, ten years removed from that freshman year in First Year College with no plans and six years removed from my first attempt at a career.
This time, however, it has a totally different feeling. I’m not worried about whether or not this is really what I want to do or if I can handle doing it for a long time.
I know this what I want to do. And for anyone who is about to graduate or is an underclassman struggling with picking a major, don’t just pick one because it sounds easy or your friends are doing it.
Give it some thought and find something you love to do. Trust me, if you don’t, you’ll regret it.