Knowing inexactly what I want to be

A few years back, my Dad taught computer class in middle school. This in itself does not sound like an earth-shattering event -€“ or even something I'd start a blog about.

But really, it has significance when you think about it.

Think of my father growing up in the 1960s. Going through middle school and high school, he would be asked like all kids are what he wanted to be when he grew up.

And, like a lot of kids, he would answer, "A teacher."

"That's great, Dennis," the person would say. "What are you going to teach?"

At this point, my Dad would have had no way of knowing the correct answer. Part of what he would teach -€“ the personal computer -€“ was not invented yet, and wouldn't be for a few more years.

As much as he wanted to plan for his future -€” trying to mold it and shape it and make it exactly what he wanted it to be -€“ he still could not. In a sense, his career path did not dictate what technology he was going to use; rather, the technology dictated his career path.

That's what's so unsettling for me as a journalist right now. I am standing at the same place that my father was.

It sounds great to say that I am a journalism major. It sounds, at least, like I have everything planned out.

"I'm going to be a sports journalist," I say, smiling to everyone who asks.

But then, inevitably, the next question arises: "What are you going to do as a sports journalist?"

And I hesitate. I want to give an answer but can't. Will I decide my future job, or will the technology decide for me? Right now, it's just too early to tell.

The Carnegie-Knight Commission believes that journalism schools are doing their best to educate students, but say that those schools' "best is not good enough in this complex day and age." But what more can J-schools do? Without a certifiable crystal ball, it's hard to know what to teach -€“ or even how to teach it -€” when the future of journalism is so uncertain. My Dad couldn't be taught computers in high school; so, who knows if the technology I will work with has even been created yet?

For now, I will keep on blogging. It's the only thing I can do. This may or may not be the future of journalism.

But I've at least got to try.

Like my father, I know inexactly what I want to be. Where the future -€” and technology -€” will take me is both unknown and unnerving.

Guess I'm just along for the ride.