Circle of life moment after Lenox game

Remember what it was like as a little kid, and it was your turn to get on the merry-go-round at the county fair, or some amusement park? You were a little apprehensive maybe at first, if you were young and hadn’t been on many rides yet.

As it got geared up and you realized you wouldn’t fall off and get hurt, you actually started to enjoy it.

Then, just as you hoped it wouldn’t end ... it started that slowdown and it was already over.

I’ll never give a college commencement address, but if I I ever did, THAT would be my analogy about your professional life. Don’t waste time. See what you can make of it. Because before you know it, the ride is over.

That’s the realization I had last week while covering the incredible Lenox football team along with Cheyenne Roche in the UNI-Dome on the University of Northern Iowa campus.

I had covered Lenox in the Dome many times before, including four championship game appearances between 2005 and 2010, and the state championship in 2008. They always represent southwest Iowa well and it’s a blast every time to be there helping to preserve history.

When the game was over, I was kind of hungry for pizza before hitting the road, and not the convenience store kind. I decided to check out The Other Place, because I knew it likely had TVs with sports on and I could plop down in a booth and go through my photos while having a meal before hitting the road.

When the waitress came over to ask what I wanted to drink, I saw her notice my camera on the table with an image from the game on the monitor as I placed it down to talk to her. When she came back to get my order she asked, “what are you doing with the camera there?”

I explained that I had just been at the UNI-Dome taking photos of a high school football playoff game for a school in my area, and that I worked for a newspaper with a website where those reports are published.

“That’s what I want to do!” she said. “That’s why I was asking when I saw your picture on there.”

In my fatherly mode, I started to pepper her with questions about her education, and if she had done anything like an internship yet. She said she was a student at UNI and I told her she needs to build some experience to show potential employers.

“That’s what I was going to ask you,” she said. “I didn’t know how to get started.”

Since she specifically has an interest in working in coverage of athletics, I suggested that she inquire about a possible internship opportunity on campus in the UNI Sports Information Department. I got my start as a student intern in the University of Iowa SID office and it opened up all kinds of opportunities, including being the Hawkeye correspondent covering several basketball games and wrestling meets for the Waterloo Courier when they couldn’t send someone down.

I told her I had my internship 46 years ago and I’m still sitting there going through my work, enjoying the process. While newspaper jobs aren’t plentiful anymore, there are many sports-related websites that need content providers. And, colleges still have sports marketing departments needing photographers and videographers.

There was something about how eager she seemed, and so unsure if anyone would take a chance on her, that it took me back to those days in Iowa City. I was also working in a restaurant at that stage of my life, while trying to build my career of choice in school. It really doesn’t seem that long ago.

I saw a young me in her. As I walked out, I hoped that she gets a chance, and that maybe I helped push her forward a little bit. It also hit me how this was probably near the end of my own run. In retirement I still help at many events as a part-time freelancer, and I plan to do that as long as I’m physically able to cope with all that goes with it. But, there’s always an end coming at this age.

The time from that moment when I got that first internship, to this point where it’s almost over, FLEW by so fast. You don’t realize that at age 22.

Before you know it, the merry-go-round starts to slow down, and the ride operator comes around to take you off.

Enjoy the ride.

•••

Contact the writer:

Email: malachy.lp@gmail.com

X: @larrypeterson