Triumphant Ideas
My housemates have taken to calling me Nine-to-five, as if all I do at NCPR is stare at my computer screen and push electronic paper. I suppose it would sound that way if I described the least of what I do here. Maybe I deserve the title, though; I drink coffee now and I’ve picked up golf.
When I asked my grandfather if he had heard about my summer plans, he said, “You are going to work for that liberal news organization that fired so-and-so for appearing on Fox.” My grandparents on both sides watch Fox News religiously. They wanted me to go to an engineering school – I got a 5 on my AP Physics exam. My plans were derailed after leaving middle school with a less than perfect grasp of algebra. Was it a mistake to repeat the class? Maybe.
Maybe, if I had tried harder in middle school, I could have ended up at Tyco or Wall Street. Somehow, devoting my life to money market funds or fiber optics just would’ve felt like I was mechanizing myself. So I jumped ship to the humanities. But am I wasted potential at a polarized media organization? That’s debatable.
Either way, I’ve got a plan. I’ll be here placing my bets on triumphant ideas instead of ephemeral things. At least that’s how I justify myself.
Anyway, here I am at NCPR, getting into the community and wading through junk to find the truth. Let’s see what I uncover.
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Meet Stephen Knight, readers/listeners. Our summer intern from St. Lawrence University. Stephen will assume the editorship of student newspaper, The Hill News, this fall. His internship is funded by a special fund for precisely this purpose–NCPR summer internship for the student in line to assume The Hill News editor position. Great idea. The internship was set up by Louisville, Kentucky journalist Stan McDonald who was a visiting professor at SLU recently.
I’ve asked Stephen to weigh in on this blog occasionally–to give you his perspective on living and breathing the world of public media. Perhaps his family will check out his columns or news pieces for us–enter our camp for at least a brief visit. All are welcome, of course.
Oh, and Stephen, I started out as a pre-med/math major and jumped ship into political science and fine art…but that’s another story.
Welcome, Stephen. I’m looking forward to more entries from you.
Good luck to Stephen. The advantage of not becoming rich is that you don’t have to waste your wealth on hiring accountants and lawyers. Neither will you have to decide which of your many houses you need to visit this week. That’s provided you remember where they are.