Journo Nerd

I’ve always known that I had a nerd in me. I tried to hide it for years, but it finally came full circle when I admitted to my obsession with office supplies.

 Colored pens, cardstock paper, mini notebooks, cute little binder clips, file folders – all of it excites me. Every few months, I attempt to re-organize my files and my office. I pretend that it is necessary to get myself organized, but honestly, it is just an excuse to buy more office supplies and gadgets.

 I can remember making my Christmas list one year with the Office Depot catalog. My dad told me that manila folders in bulk were ridiculously expensive. I was excited when I got them, though. This year my own children were surprised by my reaction when I jumped up and down over a wireless printer. The nerd in me was out of hiding.

 I’m clearly a journo nerd. There is no doubt about it. I didn’t realize it until a fellow adviser mentioned how excited she would get every time a Staples commercial aired (highly recommend her site The KRG).

 As journalists, we get excited, even ecstatic over details. Details that lead to stories, details that make our stories better and details that get published.

 Office supplies are details. They define us, they keep us motivated and they provide us with creative tools to do the work we love to do. These small trinkets fuel our writing and our passions.

 Take away our resources, our details and our passion and you’ll likely see us unravel just as my newspaper students do when our stock of reporter notebooks is low.

 I’m embracing the nerd in me if it means I can freely stock my office without shame anymore. And, with more color coded folders.

– Shannon Philpott
Blog Entry: Jan. 6, 2010

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