I hope to become a nurse, and a good one. I hope to make a difference one person at a time. Maybe one day write about why I wanted to be a nurse. In the meantime, I hope to continue to freelance for newspapers and magazines while I am in school, and even when I am a nurse. I will always be a writer. But I never want to feel like I am doing it to line the pockets of rich men in Chicago who know nothing about journalism and even less about public service.
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The steady drip of layoffs and buyouts, slowly desiccating once-vibrant newsrooms around the country, has also produced a reservoir of anger, sadness, fear, uncertainty—even some cautious optimism here and there—among reporters and editors who invested years, decades in some cases, of their lives to print journalism. We’ve asked anyone so inclined to channel these emotions, not into rant—although there will be a bit of that—but rather into reflection on what went wrong, and where we might go from here. We will publish one per day, under the headline “Parting Thoughts.” All of the letters we publish will be collected here.
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Wow! Tracy Gordon Fox Leaves Journalism. There's an unlikely headline. But, living out here in Chicago, where not one, but two great newspapers are suffering from the machinations of real estate magnate Sam Zell and convicted felon Conrad Black, who can blame you? Chicago: on the verge of becoming a no-newspaper town. Who'd have believed that? Good luck, tg!
Posted by Andrew Harris on Tue 26 Aug 2008 at 04:07 PM
I'm going to be 50 this year and I also decided to go back to school and become a nurse. Similar to you, it was a disease (my husband was diagnosed with cancer in 1991) that made me choose a new career. I just finished my junior year in a bachelor nursing program. I didn't imagine how hard the program would be, especially when there is still a family who was used to have the mom home all the time. I enjoy learning and I'm looking forward to being a nurse.
All the best to you
Madeleine Cudina
Posted by Madeleine Cudina on Wed 20 May 2009 at 04:42 PM
I have been a nurse for 45 years and can tell you that it is a wonderful way to not only touch others' lives but develop your own as well. I was also a nursing professor and watched people evolve into nurses. That's the thing about nursing careers: there are so many specialties that can accomodate your life stages. Good luck Tracy! If I can be of any help, don't hesitate to email me.
Posted by Toni Ross on Fri 22 May 2009 at 11:44 PM
Tracy,
I just read your article in the New York Times 5/17/09 about becoming a nurse. I'm a former magazine editor and writer who became a stockbroker, then a financial marketing writer for banks and mutual funds, then a psychic Tarot card reader.
So I am writing to tell you that I have some predictions about your future. Once a writer, always a writer. Once you become a nurse, profound new topics will occur to you. When I was a stockbroker, I started writing a Q&A financial column in a local newspaper. I thought I was giving up my writing career to be more practical about earning a living, but instead I acquired a wonderful new area of expertise!
Later I gave up trying to pretend that I was normal, and became the psychic I always was. My first job giving readings was in a local restaurant. Before long, I was madly taking notes on the most amazing experiences that were taking place at my table, and working on a memoir. It isn't published yet, still writing, but the title is "Tales of the Tarot."
So here I sit on Memorial Day, knowing that YOU will be the author of books based on your nursing expertise. This isn't as profound a life shift as you think it is. You're just going to have wonderful new things to write about, and will do even more good in the world.
Love,
Janet
Posted by Janet Horton on Mon 25 May 2009 at 03:33 PM