Starting a TV news job during a pandemic

Your first day of work is already stressful enough. You want to make a good first impression, you have to find your way around the building (I never set foot inside the building before starting), you have to figure out who is friendly and who just is here to get their work done. Well, add to it starting during a pandemic (for those who haven’t experienced this, you’re lucky).

My first day was odd. I walked up to the front door, there wasn’t anyone waiting for me and I didn’t have a key lol. It’s not like you can just walk inside a news station (there are crazy people who want to hurt journalists so there are security measures in place). Luckily someone was walking by and saw me sitting there.

They said, “how can I help you?”

I said, “I’m here for my first day of work!”

Then they let me inside and we had a very brief conversation, but it was completely awkward because I felt super awkward about the way I was making it in the building lol. Oh well, at least it was a memorable first day.

I then proceeded to my boss who led me to our IT guy to get me set up on my computer. Instead of meeting our HR person at the station, we did a phone call, which was interesting. I hadn’t thought about the fact that not everyone would be in the office (obviously there’s a pandemic so I should have thought about that). So I met a few of my co-workers and throughout the next few days, I met more. I still have yet to meet the people who are supposed to be on the business side of our office (I’m 7 months in for perspective).

So right off the bat, everything was different. I couldn’t sit near my coworkers because of social distancing. I’ve been at a temporary desk (which will probably be my actual desk for the full 2 years) and for the first few months, I decided not to decorate it at all. 6 months in I said oh well, time to decorate. So if I ever actually have to move desks, that would suck lol.

To top off starting a new job, I also moved to an area I had never been to before. Luckily, I wasn’t alone like most journalists starting off. My significant other, Bryce moved with me. But the not so fun part was the whole state of Illinois had a stay at home order— meaning no indoor dining, no shopping, no entertainment. We could still order from restaurants and go to the grocery store, but most of our free time was spent just at home or walking around outside because we couldn’t go anywhere.

I’m all for doing my part to end a pandemic. I want to help everyone stay safe, but it does suck moving to a new area and not being able to really experience it. So everyone, please do your part too. I’d like to get back to normal as soon as possible!

Xoxo,

Amber