OPINION: Who needs a comfort zone?

When I first decided I wanted to go into print journalism, I think those around me were split.

One side was positive. “Of course Erin’s going to do something regarding writing, that makes much more sense than her original plan of medicine. Spending her days on grammar and writing is just the thing for that nerd.”

However, the other side was probably questioning the decision a bit. In order to do that writing, I would need to talk to new people all the time. I would need to discuss uncomfortable and polarizing topics, which could lead to one of my worst fears - arguments.

While these thoughts are all just speculation - all I got was a “that makes sense” from my mom and “you won’t make as much money” from my grandpa - I wouldn’t be surprised if these were the thoughts running through the minds of my friends and family.

I’m one of those classic introverts, the kind that has to do some calm breathing before phone calls and can’t do more than one exciting thing a week without an extra day at home. Despite my love for the written language, I knew going into this line of work was going to mean constantly taking steps out side my comfort zone.

In the last two and half years, plenty of aspects of this job have become more comfortable. I don’t get nervous before attending most meetings (city council sometimes requires a check of the agenda before the nerves leave) and I’m more confident when making a call.

However, this summer threw me back out of the comfort zone and boy, am I still adjusting. As many of you already know, Cheyenne went on maternity leave at the end of June. She and baby are doing great and I’m enjoying plenty of snuggles while offering mom and dad a chance to nap.

While the baby snuggles are wonderful, the sledgehammer through the wall of my comfort zone hasn’t been as great.

This isn’t meant to be negative. I’m learning plenty of new skills and building strengths in myself. It’s just, pushing yourself every day can get a little exhausting.

In the past three weeks, I’ve stepped into almost an interim editor position. As someone who’s less than three years out of college, this sudden leadership is a bit daunting. Questions normally coming to the editor come to me. People ask me about the proper procedure or format, and while I try my best, I’m never 100% confident on my answer.

In general, I’m not someone who strives for leadership roles. I’ve always known the pressure of being in charge of things can be tough. Unlike Cheyenne, I’m not a proud bossy girl. Even if I know things have to be done a certain way, I find it hard to enforce it if there’s a chance it might cause strife. I’m far from perfect, but I’m working on it.

Along with my regular duties and added ones from Cheyenne’s role, plus the pressure of being semi-in charge, I’ve had the chance to write a couple sports stories. This was a big undertaking.

Back in high school, I was the sporty one of my friend group. That’s not saying much, as we were a bunch of nerds. I know how most sports work. I grew up watching football, basketball and volleyball on the weekends. I played tennis and was a thrower in high school. Even those that weren’t constants in my life aren’t that hard to get the jist of.

However, in the newsroom, I am the least sporty person. While I’ve watched plenty of games, I generally never cared enough to learn the actual lingo or chose a team. I support the Wisconsin teams because that’s where I’m from, but I couldn’t tell you anyone’s names. At the CNA, aside from tennis, I’m the “what is a ball” member of the group.

With all this in the background, I then had the chance to cover multiple softball games. I don’t know if you noticed, but neither baseball nor softball were mentioned in the previous paragraphs. This is one field of sports I know absolutely nothing about.

I attended one game with coworker Mandy, who is much more experienced in this field due to her time as a baseball mom. I took photos and she took notes for me. That experience was easy enough. Unfortunately, putting it altogether into a story wasn’t quite as easy.

Though I had notes from Mandy and all the stats and scorecards from the game, it still took me about four hours of research and work to put together a 600-word story. I had both Larry Peterson and Cheyenne read it and make edits, so hopefully it wasn’t too bad.

That wasn’t the only softball story I wrote, though it was the only game I attended. I also did a recap of three games that occurred over a weekend, a much easier task as I didn’t have to go into as much detail.

Thankfully, Larry took over all sports for the games out of regular season. I might still be out of my comfort zone, but at least I can see it now that the sports writing was taken away.

Though only a quarter of the way through, I’m slowly figuring it out. I miss my comfort zone, but I know I’m growing in both my professional and person lives.