ON PARADE – Children dressed as their favorite animals hold a Sitka Spruce Tips 4-H Club banner as they march down Lincoln Street on Earth Day, Monday. The Parade of Species was held in recognition of Earth Day. It was hosted by Sitka Conservation Society, University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service and the Sitka Sound Science Center. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
The Assembly its regular meeting Tuesday approved dou [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
“We want to hear from the public, what they value i [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
Sitka schools were notified at around noon today that the city administrator had re [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
Sitka High’s track and field athletes faced off aga [ ... ]
By YERETH ROSEN
Alaska Beacon
Alaska is getting an infusion of nearly $125 million to build and [ ... ]
By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
The Alaska Senate voted unanimously on Monday to make it easier f [ ... ]
By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
The Alaska House’s Rules Committee has eliminated, at least temporaril [ ... ]
By DAVID A. LIEB
The Associated Press
A conservative quest to limit diversity, equity and inclusion in [ ... ]
By NATHANIEL HERZ
Northern Journal
Alaska’s three-member, bipartisan congressional delegation is sid [ ... ]
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
April 23
At 3:14 a.m. a downtown bar report [ ... ]
Vaughn Blankenship
Dies at Age 91
Vaughn Blankenship, a longtime Sitka resident, died Tuesday at SEARH [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
With about a month left before the end of the regular [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
The city will hold a public meeting Wednesday for pub [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
With only days to go before the statewide Native Yout [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
The Daily Sitka Sentinel and KCAW-FM Raven Radio won awards Saturday at the [ ... ]
By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
To address a surge in mental health problems among young Alaskans [ ... ]
By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
A bill passed Thursday by the Alaska House of Representatives wou [ ... ]
City to Conduct
Relay Testing
The city electric department is conducting systemwide relay testing th [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
Another lawsuit that has implications in Southeast Al [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
The Assembly on Tuesday will consider final reading o [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
Competing in their first home games of the season, Si [ ... ]
By YERETH ROSEN
Alaska Beacon
Citing what they characterized as unacceptable risks to wildlife [ ... ]
By YERETH ROSEN
Alaska Beacon
The Yup’ik village of Newtok, perched precariously on thawing permafro [ ... ]
Daily Sitka Sentinel
A VIEW FROM 24 — Going 'Professional'
By Henry Colt
Last week, my housemates threw an impromptu viewing party for the first episode of Season 24 of “The Bachelor.” It was a cozy Sitka winter scene: one group of twenty-somethings watching another group of twenty-somethings vie for the affection of a boyishly handsome Delta Airlines pilot on a thumbtacked bedsheet that was doubling as our screen. Outside, snow fell; inside, heat pumps cranked.
It had most of the ingredients for a great evening – beer, hard-cider, and Juanita’s tortilla chips – but one attendee (me) wasn’t enjoying the refreshments.
I was a “Cub Reporter” eager to lose that nickname, and a key source for an upcoming story (let’s just call him “Source”) was sitting in a chair in our living room watching “The Bachelor” and casually eating Juanita’s like a hapless deer munching on vegetation.
Before I became a Cub Reporter, I had a job where the word “professional” was frequently thrown around. At first, I had little idea what it meant. All I knew was that generally, when my coworkers and I did good things, our boss would reward us with the word. Gradually, I came to realize that our rewards had something to do with dressing, acting, standing and speaking a certain way, of approaching ourselves and our work with a certain air of adult seriousness. Even though I wasn’t sure I valued every aspect of this new “professionalism,” I still strived for it, mostly because the act of striving – final destination notwithstanding – seemed itself a solid indicator of professionalism. As I strived, an ideal began to construct itself in my mind: the Serious Young Professional – a go-getter who works perpetually, sleeps seldomly and runs around urban places hurriedly, wearing Blundstone boots.
Which was exactly who I was trying to be – down even to the Blundstones (a recent acquisition, the first non-sneakers of my adult life) — when I pulled up a chair next to Source and started peppering him with questions.
Source answered most of my questions, but he seemed more interested in “The Bachelor.” He laughed whenever the Delta Airlines pilot did something awkward. He cringed whenever a contestant said a self-demeaning line (lines they had likely been force-fed by the show’s mostly-male producers).
Still, I pressed on.
But between questions, as I glanced at Source trying to get back to the action of “The Bachelor,” I realized there was a gap between what Source and I were experiencing.
In my determination to take work home with me, I had effectively removed myself from the scene. I had become a solitary twenty-something watching a group of twenty-somethings watch another group of twenty-somethings on a bedsheet.
It also dawned on me that my image of the Serious Young Professional needed some serious editing. He or she or they would still be a caffeinated go-getter — but now one who didn’t need to always be on the job. In fact, the thing that would make Version 2.0 even more professional would be the addition of an on-off switch, which would allow 2.0 to kick off its Blundstones at the end of the day and have some fun.
There were only a few minutes left in “The Bachelor.” I canned my interview with Source (it could wait till morning), plunged my hand into the bag of Juanita’s, and cracked a beer. I let the first sips take me back to our warm bustling apartment.
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20 YEARS AGO
April 2004
Michael Stringer, environmental specialist for Sitka Tribe of Alaska and a founder of the community garden, takes the concept of Earth Week literally. This weekend he hopes others will share his appreciation for “earth” and things growing in it by joining him in preparing the community garden just behind Blatchley Middle School for another growing season.
50 YEARS AGO
April 1974
Classified ads Houses for Sale: Price dropped to $36,500 for 2-story, 4-bdrm. carpeted home on Cascade. Kitchen appliances, drapes, laundry room, carport, handy to schools.