Shaking things up a bit

By Liz Torres
Would you rather be comfortable or challenged? It’s a question I still find myself trying to answer. I figured taking my chances at the Sports Journalism Institute would be a good start.
In the journalism field, when they say ‘it’s who you know,’ they weren’t kidding. For six years, I attended and was the resident assistant for the New England High School Journalism Collaborative. I met, what I would call one of my mentors, who pushed for my success and she wasn’t taking no for an answer. She helped me get an internship at the Boston Globe, one of the best opportunities I’ve ever been given, and I’ve been there since. I found my niche there and for the most part, I can say that I am pretty happy with my job. I love the sports I cover, have ‘the best boss ever’ (that’s gold right there considering everyone I know hates their bosses), have flexible hours and decent pay. Doesn’t sound like I should be complaining, right? The problem is in the fact that I’m comfortable there. And I don’t know if comfortable is where I want to be. I’ll be there for at least the next two years and I don’t have a problem with that because it is a great opportunity. But, I don’t know what I want to do after. Do I want to try and pursue a job there? Do I ditch the whole sports aspect entirely? I’m only 21, but I feel like I’m hitting this midlife crisis. I honestly just don’t know what to do with my life and what’s going to make me happy. Do I settle with low pay and debt even though I’m happy with what I do or suck it up and go somewhere where there’s $$$? Comfortable. I’ve been it for too long now that I’m afraid of change and don’t know if that’s what I need. So, with the utmost luck, I was accepted into SJI. For most of my life, I’ve been pretty good at what I do. What I mean is, give me a task and I’ll put my utmost dedication to it to get the results. I’ve never really failed at anything, and this program, which may or may not be the deal-breaker for my future, is the one scenario I could see myself failing at. I practically failed on both first sports quizzes which eats me up inside and as trivial as they may be, it makes me question my capabilities in the journalism industry or with a boss who isn’t as nice as my own. It looks like it’s going to be an interesting week. Later that evening, a few words remained in my mind: “Put yourselves in positions that make you uncomfortable and gain the knowledge,” Sandy Rosenbush. “At the end of the day the cream always rises to the top and that’s what we’re trying to challenge you to do this week. You can’t be afraid of it because you limit yourselves of opportunities in front of you,” said Greg Lee. It definitely helps.