Folks in Manhattan must think my job is pretty cool, because I keep getting invited to speak at career days across the Little Apple.
A few months ago, I waxed poetic about sports journalism with a cafeteria filled with middle schoolers and I was blown away with how many questions they had for a K-State beat writer. What is my favorite stadium? Who is my favorite player? What is the best article I have ever written? What sporting event do I want to cover the most?
One kid asked for my autograph. Another offered to work as my personal assistant on game days.
That Q&A took a lot longer than this weekly mailbag.
But things were a bit different when I showed up at a career day for first-graders this week. I had to follow a firefighter and a helicopter pilot, both of whom brought in helmets and other gear for the kids to marvel at as they spoke about their professions.
I was armed with nothing but a few old newspapers.
The kids seemed excited when I asked if anyone in the room was a sports fan. They all raised their hands. The kids perked up even more when I asked if there were any K-State fans in the crowd. But then I lost them when I began explaining my job. I felt like Derek Jeter and former NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg in that Capital One commercial.
But I won them back over in the end. When I noticed nobody had much interest in my newspapers or my sports stories, I shared that reporters have unlimited access to ice cream and soda in the press box at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
That reeled them back in. Alas, they were disappointed I didn’t bring any samples.
Still, they wanted to know my favorite K-State football ice cream. My answer: Twix ice cream bar all the way! Nothing tastes better at halftime while the K-State band is playing.
