What percentage of your colleagues have thought about changing careers? – Shaw Local

If you ever feel the need to feel ancient, you should definitely consider spending three hours with high school students.

On Thursday I was at a “career exploration” table, which meant standing behind newspaper clippings from the last millennium and telling a group of kids born around 2009 about the world of communications.

I didn’t, like the John Deere rep next door, have the experience of using the restroom while some of the same kids were making TikTok videos. But I had to answer some of their prepared questions, such as “What are the biggest challenges you face in this job?” and “Are there opportunities for growth and development in this field?”

This is not a complaint. Self-reflection is good! And while I’m old enough to have worked in newsrooms where we cut up printouts, ran them through the hot wax machine and pasted them onto broadsheet layout pages, I’m also young enough to be 100% sincere in saying that it’s always like this is an appetite for stories, for informative explanations about the world around us, and for seeking answers to questions, especially those that powerful people would prefer not to discuss.

Whether the medium for this work drops into the driveway once a day or otherwise enters the audience’s consciousness is in many ways irrelevant to the larger truth that quality information is essential because we don’t live life simply through it Being able to process things that we experience directly.

From a practical journalistic perspective, I answered questions about education, training and skills by explaining that it is wise to study everything because audiences are constantly evolving. Every weekend I watch the sideline videos from Shaw Media’s Friday Night Drive team and am impressed by how my fellow sportswriters continue to adapt to modern demands and continue to lead the way in covering high school football.

It seemed fitting that the event coincided with the Illinois Education Association’s release last week promoting the results of a June membership survey (tinyurl.com/IEApoll2024), which showed that nearly 60% of respondents had considered to give up the job. What percentage of your colleagues would say the same?

My favorite questions from the children centered around how my personality fit with the demands of the career and how my work impacts or contributes to society. This column is more about government than politics and information more than my personal opinion, but these questions (and the work-life balance question) might help us all know a little about life after salary to think about.

Sometimes a job is just that. We all need money to survive. Efforts outside the office can serve an important purpose.

Maybe it’s middle age, but occasional introspection is healthy. If you can’t do it alone, the right teenager will provide the perfect motivation.

• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Local News Network. Follow him on X @sth749. He can be reached at [email protected].