Joe Harris

I learned something last Friday: this truly is a small world.

For those that do not know, I am a stringer for another paper in the St. Louis area. I have the job to get experience and to make ends meet. I write for their sports section, so there is no conflict of interest.

My assignment last Friday was to cover a local high school football game. This was not an unusual assignment. I cover high school football for the other paper every Friday.

I showed up at the game at my usual time, about half an hour before kickoff. The game was a blow-out, and the result was not in doubt early in the second quarter.

With the game dragging, I found several people on the sidelines to talk to. I do this regardless of the score because most of the people on the sidelines are with one of the teams, and they know more than the statistics can tell. For example, by talking to one guy last Friday, I found out that one of the players is being heavily recruited by some of the top football schools in the country. In fact, this player was flown by a very prestigious school to their campus in the school's private jet. Needless to say, that little piece of information gave me an angle I didn't know to look for.

So while I'm talking to people on the sidelines, I came across another gentleman who was obviously a member of the press. I found out his name and for what paper he was writing.

Instantly I recognized the name. This guy was a former editor-in-chief of The Current!

I told him who I was, and we started talking. We talked about the game, various topics in local sports, and about our experiences at The Current.

When the topic of The Current came up, we instantly had many things in common. He asked if certain administrators were still at UM-St. Louis, if certain professors were still there, and if The Current was still at its same location.

We compared notes about different problems and situations that affected our tenures as editor.

The results and stories were very similar. In five minutes of conversation, we found at least 10 different things that happened to both of us. Of course, I then picked his brain at how to solve these dilemmas.

The experience was very insightful and worthwhile for both of us. I got some new ideas on how to handle old problems, and he, in his own words, "saw himself five years ago."

The experience was very eye-opening for me. Lately I have had more complaints about this job than good memories, but after talking to this former editor, I began to realize what a wonderful opportunity I have this year.

His experiences helped him grow as a person and helped him along in his career. After Friday night, I have no doubts that the same will happen for me.