FAMILY FUN – Crystal Johns holds her son Zayne , 2, as she follows her son Ezekiel, 4, up an inflatable slide Saturday at Xoots Elementary School during the annual Spring Carnival. The event included games, prizes, cotton candy, and karaoke. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
Rep. Rebecca Himschoot says in the discussion on educ [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
Song, dance and a cast of school-aged actors will brin [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
Don’t talk to people claiming to be from Medicare o [ ... ]
By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
The Alaska House of Representatives voted Wednesday to allow comp [ ... ]
By YERETH ROSEN
Alaska Beacon
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has dismissed an appeal filed by [ ... ]
Mr. Whitekeys
In Sitka to Tell
Gold Rush Tale
Sitka Historical Society and Museum will present ‘‘Th [ ... ]
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
April 17
At 9:08 a.m. a transformer was r [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
The threat of major cutbacks to the subsistence socke [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
With the first vote on the city budget for fiscal yea [ ... ]
By Sentinel Staff
In the final day of play in the recreational division City League volleyball [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
Three amateur athletes from Sitka were among tens of [ ... ]
By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
A proposal to require Alaska schools to keep opioid-overdose-r [ ... ]
By YERETH ROSEN
Alaska Beacon
Alaska’s Kobuk River, which flows out of the Brooks Range above [ ... ]
Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
April 16
At 8:07 a.m. a woman [ ... ]
Presentation On
Medicare, SS
SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium and Cynthia Gibson, CFP®, an [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
Musicians from Sitka High and Mt. Edgecumbe High scho [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
Whether you enjoy scaling mountains, walking in the p [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
Two-time Alpine Adventure Run winner Chris Brenk cont [ ... ]
By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
Republican members of the House Judiciary Committee expanded a [ ... ]
By JAMES BROOKS and
CLAIRE STREMPLE
The Alaska Department of Education and Early Development is [ ... ]
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
April 15
A protective order was issued at 1 [ ... ]
Chamber Speaker
Event Wednesday
The Chamber of Commerce speaker series will continue noon Wednesday at [ ... ]
By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
From high costs and low availability to challenges sur [ ... ]
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
A number of participants at Thursday’s community me [ ... ]
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
Photo caption: Sen. Lisa Murkowski talks with students in Karoline Bekeris’ fourth-grade class Thursday at the Westmark Shee Atika. From left are Murkowski, Kelsey Boussom, Laura Quinn and Memito Diaz.
50 YEARS AGO
April 1974
A medley of songs from “Jesus Christ Superstar” will highlight the morning worship service on Palm Sunday at the United Methodist Church. Musicians will be Paige Garwood and Karl Hartman on guitars; Dan Goodness on organ; and Gayle Erickson on drums.