Staring at the phone in my hand, I realized there were two options.
Continue walking in circles in the cinder block bowels of The Convo, opening random doors, hoping, no praying, that I'd accidentally find the right one.
Or, call my editor, admit that I was lost and brand myself as a dolt freshman who wasn't worthy of a staff writer position.
It was mid-November, and I was trying out for the lone staff spot that was up for grabs winter quarter. After eight weeks of playing phone tag with coaches for Mid-American Conference football notebooks, I had a shot at a beat, the chance to put staff writer after my name, and I was going to blow it by being lost ' in a circular building.
Resigned to my fate, I called my editor. I suppose this means I'll be writing notebooks again next quarter. You can't hire kids who get lost the first time they're given a real assignment.
He laughed. He got lost in The Convo his freshman year too. A week later, I got the job and promised myself I'd never get lost in The Convo again.
My wrestling background was as deep as a puddle on East Green Street, but I was determined to impress the editors and older writers. So I covered wrestling like it was the Super Bowl every day and Jake Percival like he was Peyton Manning. And I wound up spending my days at practices rather than in classes.
I didn't realize then that I was giving up the life of a normal college student for one who spent countless hours in newsrooms and empty arenas, but it was that time and this place that taught me how to be a sports writer more than any class could ever hope to. Sorry, Scripps.
Sure, sometimes I dreamed of a regular 9-to-5 job that wouldn't keep me waiting around to talk to people most nights of the week, but the time spent at practices was when I learned to look less at stats and highlights and more at the people who made them. And it's when I found my infatuation with sports writing.
I'm convinced the timing of my run covering Ohio athletics was a fluke. As a freshman, I stumbled in to the end of Percival's practically impeccable career. And I haven't seen a better individual effort by an athlete since he graduated with a 142-10 record.
My introduction to, now former volleyball coach, Geoff Carlston and his well-oiled machine of a team came in 2005 when they made it to the NCAA Sweet 16. I talked to Kalvin McRae about tattoos after interviewing him about running to the top of Ohio's record books. I saw the drive in Leon Williams as he came out of his shell in his senior season.
But while the people helped me become a better writer, the events ' arrests of numerous football players, alleged baseball gambling ring and sports cuts ' made me a better reporter, especially when I asked questions no one wanted to answer.
A few weeks ago, and more than three years after I auditioned for a beat, a younger reporter called me asking for directions ' he was lost in The Convo.
And I suddenly felt old, because now that I know my way around, it's time for me to leave.
Katie Carrera is the Sports Senior Writer and covers men's basketball for The Post. She is graduating and leaving Athens at the end of this quarter to take a job as a sports reporter at The Washington Post. Send her an e-mail at kc207604@ohiou.edu.
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Katie Carrera
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