LaMacchia Rant: Just Give Me a Chance

Here I am, 173 days shy of turning thirty and I’m lost. Quite literally. It’s like back in the days before turn-by-turn navigation, when you had to get a out a map, find your destination and then pick the best route to get there through the jumbled mess of highways and byways. I know where I am (kinda), I know where I want to be (for the most part), but I’m completely stumped about how to get there.

So, let’s start with the here and now. I’m a decently proficient writer with a passion for sports and storytelling. Mainly storytelling, but sports provide a lot of stories to be told so it works out. I’m building a pretty decent reputation in my admittedly small circle, and it’s high time to move on to the next.

Also, I have this rather large circle of social influence, but I’m not sure a) what to do with it, or b) if that’s even worth anything. But, I think it bears mentioning in this space, if nothing more than a demonstration of value.

But, I want to take my talents to the next level. In my head that means becoming a professional communicator of some kind – writer, talker, show-er, whatever – but I have no idea how to get my foot into that door. I’m not even sure where that door is.

Actually, if I’m going to be honest, I know exactly what I would do to get my foot into one of those doors: I’d charm and schmooze, and then, once standing inside the foyer of “made it” I’d charm some more while working and fighting and scratching and working to prove that I belonged there in the first place.

See, I have a handicap: I’m behind. Not only am I dumbfounded staring at this map, everyone else that has my destination in mind has is already on the road. They all have degrees in things like “journalism” and “PR” and “marketing” or whatever. All I have, other than experience, is a really strong desire to tell stories. To communicate. To do what I love.

Have you ever conveyed an emotion to someone? Do you remember how satisfying it was for them to laugh at your joke or share your tears or ride on the coattails of your excitement? For me, that is like a drug. I love, love, the feeling of bringing someone into a story, of taking them to a place in my head and convincing them that they experienced it with me when in fact all they did was read or listen to my words. That, to me, is the ultimate accomplishment: to transport someone from their reality and into mine.

So yeah, anyway, I’ve hamstrung myself over the last ten years. I’ve got a lot a of experience doing a lot of things – retail management, call center customer service, small business management, photography, supply chain management, even a little bit of radio – but no degree. Not formally anyway.

If I could, I’d give myself a bachelors in “Getting It Done” from Mistakes Were Made State College, and a “Master of Figure It Out” from You’ll Get No Help University. I’m working on my Ph.D. in “Disaster Avoidance,” too.

But none of that matters to the people I want to talk to. They don’t see a degree on my resume, and therefor they don’t see me. I realize that the best and only way to change that is to get a degree, but in the meantime what I am supposed to do? Wait tables? Take phone calls? Sell jeans? And while I’m doing those things I’m just falling further and further behind.

I say no. There has to be a way to get paid to do what that I’m passionate about – and good at – without waiting until I’ve got initials behind my name. Is there no one in the world that will take a chance on me? Is there no one out there that values experience at life as much – if not more – than time in a classroom? Is there not a single potential employer that would read my writing or hear my demo tape and say “Yeah, this guy has it even without the formal education”?

If there isn’t, then I’ll take my defeat and go change oil for the rest of my life. But I seriously doubt that college is the only way to get the job that I want.

My grandfather helped put men on the moon and was instrumental in bringing hundreds of astronauts safely back to Earth, and he – at age 84 – is yet to set foot into a college classroom. Yes, I realize things were different back then, but you see my point: he had desire, ability, and opportunity.

And that’s all I really want: Opportunity. A fair shake. Put my writing sample next to the just-starting-out college graduate’s, Mr. Employer, and compare the two fairly. If mine isn’t better, I’ll accept that and work hard until it is. But if mine is better, why not hire me?

Meadow Soprano once famously said that “College is just a way to prove to employers that you can show up in the same place for four years.” I’m not sure if that’s completely accurate, but I agree with the sentiment: That you can learn a lot of the same things through living life as you can through college. I think it’s time that I get to prove that to someone.

Give me a chance, hire me. You’ll see how much I’ve learned.