Jordan Schuman
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Crossing the Finish Line -April 21

4/21/2014

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Picturewww.Twitter.com/WesleyLowery
I'm not a runner. I never ever have liked to run. When I was younger, I had a doctor's note excusing me from running the mile in school. A mile! And there are people who run marathons - 26.2 miles. And they say it's not the first 26 miles that really get you, granted those are really difficult. They say it's the last .2.

Just crossing the finish line.

Though I can't understand the phenomenon first hand, I guess I can imagine it. You train and prepare for months. You adjust your diet and your lifestyle. You get there early. You run the first 26 miles. You did the hard part! And now you have to run just .2 miles more? I mean, didn't you already prove your point?

On the way to work Monday, I remembered when I got here, I'd have to finish one of the papers I was working on last night. I successfully put it out of my mind enough to go to sleep and wake up, brush my teeth and get dressed, even make my coffee and head out the door. But at one point during my morning drive, I remembered. If you will, this paper is my .2 miles. I've been in classes since January 13th this semester. I've studied and showed up and even wrote the first 18 pages. I did the hard part. What more do I have to prove?

Toward the end of a semester if you ask a college student how they are doing, their first response is most likely "good" followed by "just trying to finish the semester." It's interesting that people so often say, "life is about the journey, not the destination." But on Monday, for the students just trucking along at the University of Miami, and the runners at the Boston Marathon, I really think it was just about crossing the finish line.

To be quite honest, I got the first breaking news alert about the winner of the Boston Marathon, and I forgot the event even had a winner. I mean, you're running 26.2 miles by your own free will. Doesn't that make you a winner enough? Yes, we all know it does, but in the great tradition of marathon running, the winner is whoever crosses that line first. And then there's me sitting at my desk remembering the paper I need to finish, and I forgot this event was a race at all.

Last year at the Boston Marathon, two homemade bombs went off at the finish line, killing three and injuring more than 200 people in the largest terrorist attack since September 11th. The bombs went off at 2:49 p.m., nearly three hours after the winners crossed the finish line. The explosions were in approximately the last 225 yards of the course. Obviously, many did not finish the race. Tragedy aside, it had to be disappointing to those who made it that far to have not been able to complete the task for a reason out of their control. Entrants who completed at least half the course and did not finish due to the bombings received automatic entry in today's race. See? It's about crossing that line.

In leading up to Marathon Monday, news organizations ran features on heightened security measures, last year's runners who have recovered, and last year's runners who are back to finish the race they started. Cheered on by signs reading, "This is OUR Race" runners did what they set out to do. One couple who had each lost a leg at last year's bombing returned and crossed the line in the hand cycle division of the marathon. When a man collapsed just shy of the finish line, one Washington Post reporter captured this photo of four other runners carrying him across. There is a video of this man crossing the finish line on his own, but it would not have been possible without the help of his fellow runners who understood he needed to cross the line.

I have a hard time understanding why anyone would want to subject their body to the stresses and discomfort of a 26.2 mile race, though there is much to be said about how you run it: with determination, passion, drive, and strength.

But I can understand why you'd want to finish it, for there is even more to be said about how you cross that line.

You heard it here first,
Jordan


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Day 9: Lunch is on Them

1/31/2014

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I make coffee every day before I leave for work or class. So you can imagine my surprise when I opened the fridge that my whole Resident Assistant staff shares today unable to locate my Coffee-Mate. I keep it on the door, and it was actually laying on its side on the shelf. The rule with the fridge is that if it's not labeled, it's communal. My coffee-mate says my name on it a few times: JORDAN SCHUMAN. JORDAN. JORDAN. And around the lid, it reads, "JORDAN TAKES HER COFFEE VERY SERIOUSLY." I also take my coffee light with two Splenda but that is not important in this moment. I am not accusing any of my RA staff of using my Coffee-Mate. I actually think it was the night staff.

Once I got past this weird start to my morning, I got in the car and made pretty great time. It only took me a half hour instead of the usual 45 minutes it does to get to work. In the car, I thought again about my interview with CBS News for a summer internship that I had yesterday. I wondered how long you're supposed to wait in between haircuts. I also realized everyone in the traffic on the way to work is really getting in each other's way and we could all be nice to one another and get out of the way once in a while. These are real thoughts I have sometimes.

Work is pretty slow today. I'm typing at 11:30 a.m. and none of us have done much today except small tasks around the office. I'm feeling very sleepy and I was hungry early on today, but I'm glad to be at work. I really genuinely love the people I work with. It's a mostly female staff, and the conversation is flowing and fun. I realized the other day that in only my third week here, I know I'm going to miss it when it's over.

Today I'm wearing black pants, a coral sweater, two-tone boots riding boots and my black fake-leather jacket. I do love waking up on a Friday and not having to get all dolled up. I'm usually the only one wearing heels so I know I get a pass when I take advantage of a casual Friday. Today for lunch I brought vegetable stromboli and  roasted potatoes... but like my outfit choice, that doesn't much matter either.

Lunch is on NBC.

After the hectic storm coverage we put together, NBC decided to treat both our Birmingham and Atlanta affiliate folks. Oh, and while we were at it, we decided to treat ourselves.

I love how classy it is to recognize good work and reward it. (If we do say so ourselves?) When I left work after covering the storm, the staff at the bureau said they were glad I was there that day. They thought I was helpful. It was a pretty cool pat on the back while I know I would've been fine leaving never hearing it.

I enjoy the tradition of acknowledging busy and tedious work, like the Chicago Tribune did for the Boston Globe after the marathon bombing:
Picture

In response, the Globe sent the Tribune hundreds of doughnuts.

More than ever, we’ve been honored to be journalists these last weeks, helping our community understand and process the Boston Marathon bombings and related events — but, as you guessed, the experience left us exhausted emotionally and physically. Then your surprise lunch arrived, feeding out appetites and lifting our spirits. Since you helped keep us going, let us return the favor.

Your friends at the Boston Globe  

I so frequently feel in my life that 99% of what I do goes unrecognized by the public. I work 9 to 5 three days a week and I still manage to carry a full-time job on campus and go to class. I was on the Homecoming Executive Committee! I'm in a sorority! Look how well I match my clothes and do my makeup!

But you do not do anything for recognition, or you will not do a job that is true to yourself. You must do what you to because you are intrinsically motivated to do so. You must do it because you feel it is right. You should do the best job you can because that's what Jordan is about, not because you'll get praise for that.

I so frequently want friends at the various Globes and Tribunes in my life to pick up lunch and say, "You know, Jor. You're killing it lately." At the end of the day, it's important to compliment those who we think deserve to hear the outside confirmation, even thought they might not need to.

We are, after all, all in this together. And, after all, we do not do it for the recognition. 

I'm so glad NBC gets that.

You heard it here first,


Jordan 
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