Joining our staff this week is reporter Alex Simone from the State University of New York at Oswego. We asked him to introduce himself.

By ALEXANDER SIMONE

Staff writer

What separates a career from a job? What differentiates the employment opportunity of a lifetime from the nine-to-five slog?

I am not sure, but for years, I was told to find what I loved and turn it into a career.

This created a dilemma in college. I told myself I wanted to be a journalist, but I loved photography and was passionate about the artistic pursuit.

Journalism is certainly enjoyable and worthwhile; the rush after seeing that first story published is a fantastic feeling, a glorious natural high.

Photography is something more though; it is pure and true, like the feeling of that first crush.

At the same time, it is expressive and sometimes edgy. Photos confronting topics of racism, sexuality, or depression are visual poems when done correctly.

At the time, it also was the only place I did not feel creatively inferior to my artistic peers. Graphic designers and painters had their specialties, but the camera was my catalyst to create a level playing field.

What I did not love was the commercialism that accompanied a budding photographer.

Taking photos at a wedding is not enjoyable to me; it is nerve-wracking and I might get only one usable shot out of 100.

Journalism though, was the same mission regardless of the situation: educate the community on timely and relevant topics while remaining fair and unbiased.

As an added benefit, those same topics of racism, sexuality, and depression make for fitting editorials occasionally.

The objective remains the same whether I am writing at a college on Lake Ontario or a small city in Kansas. Seek truth and report it.