Career Opportunities

I remember when I was in high school I hadn't a clue what I was going to do with my life until I was forced to make some sort of decision in my senior year. So I can fully appreciate what kids are going through at that age. But one thing that no one ever told me was how many "cool" jobs were out there in the real world.

When in high school, I worked as a dishwasher, prep cook, short-order cook and roofer, and even for Jefferson County, Colorado's trail-maintenance division. You know what? Not one of those jobs could ever be called "cool."

It wasn't until I moved to California that my streak of desirable jobs ensued. My first was working at Tower Records on Sunset Boulevard, which was about as fun as retail could get, with a never-ending stream of celebs. Then I worked as a graphic artist (what I went to college for), studio photographer, freelanced as a racing photographer (shooting both motorcycles and cars), and then was an art director at American Roadracing Magazine, an editor at Cycle News and finally Associate Editor here at CW. I would have to say that I've enjoyed every one of those career choices.

So when my neighbor Tim Chambers invited me to be a guest speaker at his Laguna Hills High School Auto Technology class, I knew what my agenda would be. I just wanted his students to realize that there are a lot of jobs in the world that their auto shop curriculum could contribute to—and that didn't involve changing oil at a lube shop.

I explained what I did for a living, talking up all the amazing places I've traveled, racetracks I've tested at and motorcycles I've ridden. I definitely had their attention. I explained that you can't write about motorcycles, cars, boats, planes or trains and not have a grasp on how engines work. At the end of each class I took the students out to the shop and fired up the Bimota DB7 that we are testing for an upcoming issue. To say that the $40,000 exotic bike got their attention would be an understatement. I have a feeling there may be a run on college journalism majors coming out of Laguna Hills...