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MY father’s advice fell on deaf ears. I pursued my job
with much more vigor and enthusiasm, at the expense of my
schooling.
I loved my job, even if it demanded much of my time.
In fact, I spent most of the night working at the radio
station. I worked harder. I learned more. My performance
improved each day.
In six months, my hard work paid off. I was promoted
to become assistant copy editor. My main job was to write
a 12-minute summary of the news around the world and
submit it to the editor every night. This job required
concise writing, about 1,500 words, to include all the
important news around the world. The script took some six
minutes for the newscaster to read.
To ensure that I did not miss any important event, I
had to read all the wire service news as soon as I got to
the office. I had to sort out all the important news
during the day, and then I was ready to write the news
summary. My editor decided on what news comes first and in
what order. We usually had 12 to 15 minutes of headline
news every day—half overseas and half domestic news.
Every night at about 10 o’clock, I would start to
organize all the contents. It took about an hour to finish
my summary. My editor would collect my work and submit it
to the chief editor, who made the final corrections and
order of presentation. By 11 o’clock at night, the radio
announcer was reading my news summary.
When I first took the assignment, I was very nervous.
I knew the job entailed a big responsibility. I did not
want to make mistakes or overlook any important news.
Millions of the island’s population listened to the news.
The most avid listener was the company’s president, who
did not miss the eleven o’clock news before he went to
bed.
In those days we did not have desktop computers. And
copy machines were very rare. We wrote our stories by
hand, and made duplicate copies using a carbon paper. This
means that I had to write not only legibly but also hard
enough to make a clear carbon copy. This process was very
tiresome for the hand and fingers after a period of time.
Despite the demands of the job, I enjoyed every minute
of my work. I seemed to be inspired, which made me perform
satisfactorily, to the satisfaction of my superiors. The
news department was doing great, and I knew I was
contributing to its greatness. I even got an award from
the president himself for outstanding performance. Hard
work, they say, always reaps its reward.
My salary at that time was 2,000 Taiwanese dollars a
month. This was a big amount. It was much bigger that what
a high school teacher received and the same as the salary
of a junior government officer.
Suddenly I became a “rich” man. I could now afford a
500-dollar suit. And a five-dollar dinner plate at the
university dorm was “cheap.” I bought a new television set
for my parents from my first salary. I paid part of my
sister’s school tuition. I was even wearing a suit to
school. I became very famous in class.
But I struggled in school because of my night job. I
even failed some of my classes. I wanted to spend more
time to study, but I didn’t have the time. It could have
been worse if not for a very helpful classmate who always
lent me her notes from class.
But a borrowed note is no substitute for actually
attending classes, so my grades suffered. I also missed
all the activities in school. I never joined any club nor
attended parties because I had to work six days a week
until the early mornings. I had no social life.
It was pure determination that made me finish college.
I knew the value and importance of education. After much
struggle, I graduated from the university with a Bachelor
of Arts degree.
My life, however, revolved around my job, which I
loved and enjoyed very much. I was witnessing and
reporting about Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon,
about Richard Nixon and McGovern’s election, about the
escalating Vietnam War and about all the important news
happening around the globe. My job made gave me more
knowledge and experience than most of the people may age.
I found fulfillment in my job.
(To be continued) |
