Living Like a Celebrity

Getting my picture
in the paper every day does’nt pay the bills.

Every once in awhile, I get an e-mail from a local journalism student, who wants to be a writer — four so far this month.
They want to know what my workday looks like, how I spend my time, what it takes to make money in print.
Sometimes, they ask for an opportunity to do a job shadow.
Here’s the problem: getting my picture in the paper every day doesn’t pay the bills. Not even close. I moonlight as a schoolbus driver, so I can afford little things like rent and groceries and car insurance. But I answer their questions anyway, all the while feeling like a fraud, hoping that, someday, one of these kids will really make it as a writer and fill me in on how it works.