MY STORIES:

• Homeless shelter cash donations suffering in slumping economy
• Panhandling ordinance or not, homeless continue to beg
• Homeless kids have their work cut out for them
• Salt Lake City homeless population has country-wide roots

MY BLOG:

Covering the homelessness in Salt Lake City has opened my eyes in many ways.  I have discovered that the public perception of homeless people is often skewed from what is reality.

Sure, there are the homeless people who will beg for money to feed their drug habit or need for booze.  But only a portion of the homeless community fit into that category.

The down economy has caused some families to lose their jobs and homes.  Many of these people have never touched drugs or alcohol.

Before taking on this beat, I never realized how deep-rooted homelessness sometimes is.  There are people who are homeless because their parents were homeless and they don’t know how to break the mold.

I had not crossed my mind that the media might have a responsibility to bring attention to this issue.  But I absolutely believe there is an obligation to address this now.

My eyes have also been opened from a career standpoint.  Writing comes easy to me and I feel like I am at least decent at it.  But I’m realizing there is much more to being a journalist than just writing.  Taking pictures and recording sound can be equally as important.  And my skills in those departments are not where they need to be.  It is imperative that I become a better photographer, videographer and editor if I want to be a successful journalist.

That is the bad news.  But it is also the good news because I know what I need to do.  I know where I can get better.  I don’t expect to become a world-renowned photographer anytime soon.  And I don’t think that is the point.  The point is to become well rounded so that I can produce a quality product.

ABOUT ME:

Life is all about perspective. Keeping the important things in focus is the key to happiness. A favorite quote of mine is “life is to be enjoyed, not endured.” It is of course true that we will not always thoroughly enjoy everything we do. But we should strive to put ourselves in a position to be happy.

Being happy means different things for different people. For me, it means spending time with my wife and daughter and not at work. However finding a career that we like makes the aspect of work much less of a chore. I enjoy writing. If I have to be away from my family then I might as well be writing.

Sports have always been a passion of mine. I played baseball every day until I was 19. I still adamantly follow baseball, and other sports. I know that I would never be truly happy with a job if it didn’t involve sports. Being a sports writer would be a perfect career for me. I think that I was made for sports writing.

My dream job is to have my own sports talk radio show one day. I am extremely opinionated when it comes to sports and I can persuade almost anybody to agree with me. Analyzing and discussing sports all day would be just as entertaining for me as for listeners.

With a beautiful wife and a happy, healthy daughter, I am living the dream. Every day is the greatest day of my life. Making an effort to enjoy all facets of life makes life as a whole better. Letting ourselves be happy will make it so.

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