Job Shadowing by the bay

I've never been to Bay City, and Friday was not the best day to go. Cloudy skies (and a 5:30 a.m. wake-up call) made me a little pessimistic about how exciting my job shadow would be.

I drove an hour and a half to the Bay City Times, where I job shadowed Jeff Kart, the environmental reporter. As soon as I called him to let me into the building (how was I supposed to know you needed a key card to get in?) and he laughed hysterically at my flustered state, I knew maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

First off, Kart is a really, really, really funny guy. I took that as a good sign because you can't hate your job and have a sense of humor, right? The workday at The Bay City Times is from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. I got there at 9 a.m. so I had the pleasure of attending the daily budget meeting.

At The State News, only editors go to budget. At The City Times, reporters and editors go and then duke it out about what stories will run and why, exactly, they should. Kart taught me the art of enthusiasm. While all the other reporters sullenly mumbled about what they may or may not have ready for Monday, Kart wildly explained his story, how it was coming together and even showed off pictures that would run with it (I helped him choose which ones to show off).

After budget, which goes from about 10:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. or so, we drove to Saginaw Valley State University for a speech Kart had to cover. We got free lunch (which consisted of some kind of awkward turkey wraps with wasabi-lime sauce, heaping piles of frozen potato salad and brownies. So random.) and I got to see Kart at work.

He doesn't believe in voice recorders, so he furiously scratched down everything he felt was important for the story. When we got back, he busted out a story in about 10 minutes. Pretty impressive.

Long story short (but I guess not after all my rambling), job shadowing another reporter was an invaluable experience. If it wasn't part of the curriculum, I probably would have still done this just to see how things work out in the "real world."

Hope everyone's job shadowing was equally as entertaining, if not slightly marred by disgusting wasabi-lime sauce.