Recently, I was invited to talk to students in a Grade 5 class at Herbert Spencer Elementary.
Well, teacher Sandy Kaur contacted the editor and asked if someone could come and share on the topic of journalism. And I raised my hand.
The thing is I am by nature somewhat shy - probably one of the reasons I chose print media and not TV, but I was intrigued by the request, mainly because I was once a Grade 5 student at Herbert Spencer, and I liked the idea of going back to my old school. But I was nervous.
I remember that tween stage - one foot in childhood and the other stepping toward teenagehood.
My Grade 5 teacher at Spencer was Mr. Alvaro, or Mr. A as we called him. He was tall, lean with dark hair and an '80s-style moustache. Like all adults at that time, he seemed old, but he was probably younger than I am now.
We were in rows of desks, and he let me decorate mine. I coated it with cutout magazine pictures of pop stars and boy crushes (how embarrassing).
My mom has a story she loves to tell: She came to parent/teacher night in that Grade 5 year and saw a disheveled desk, cluttered with pictures and books.
"Oh my God," she thought. "Don't let that be her desk."
Needless to say, it was mine.
She was horrified. But Mr. A wasn't. That was the thing about him: he let me be me - messy, pop-star loving, disheveled me. The other thing I remember about his class: he read to us. Good books, chapter books that took us outside the classroom and into the world he was reading about. It was probably one of my most engaged classroom experiences.
I didn't know then that I wanted to be a journalist - that decision came at 14 when I realized I could take my love of reading and the gravely-voiced story telling style of Linda Ellerbee and turn it into some kind of job (who thought about careers then?).
Earlier in my young life, I had hopes of being Karen Kain, but that fizzled out when I got bored of ballet class (given my ambitions, it was clearly important that I stay interested).
I'm not sure if any of the students in Ms. Kaur's Grade 5 class know what they want to be, but I do know they asked me some really great questions on the day I visited.
Questions like:
Student: How long does it take you to write a story?
Me: That depends really on the nature of a story and when it is due.
Student: Is your job dangerous?
Me: No, but many journalist do risk their lives to report on what's happening in war zones around the world.
Student: Do you have carpel tunnel syndrome? (One boy asked me; pointing to a wrist brace I was wearing.)
Me: No, well sort of, I have tendonitis (see, my job is dangerous).
Student: What if people won't talk to you?
Me: You keep trying until they do. You always want to have each side of a story.
Student: How does your newspaper make money if people don't subscribe?
Me: We sell ads (Oh, quizzical looks).
Students: If you saw a shooting would you pull over?
Me: Yes, I think (hypothetically, it sounds great, but upon later reflection, I changed my answer).
Student: What if you have nothing to write about?
Me: In 10 years, I have rarely had nothing to write about. (Doesn't mean I always want to write, but deadlines do help to motivate.)
Student: Is it ever hard to write a story?
Me: Yes. Student: Do you have breaks?
Me: (Thinking: "This is a future shop steward, for sure.")
Later, when I was sitting in the hallway by myself writing notes, a student from the class walked by. She said "Goodbye, Ms. Hope" with a big, sweet grin - that childlike smile that we still have in Grade 5. The one that makes you beam back because it is so sincere and warm.
In the end, I had a great time in Ms. Kaur's class and thought back to my days at Spencer.
The school building is different (I do wish I could walk through that old one just one more time). The new school is lovely and much more modern and efficient than the one I went to, but it doesn't feel the same. It's interesting what an old building can do, the physical memories it evokes, the way the school smelled - old, but clean.
That school was such a monumental part of my childhood.
Niki Hope is a longtime reporter with The Record.
