‘Your health is your wealth’

A friend of mine told me the city of Elgin, Ill., uses this motto. Kind of cheesy. But, unfortunately, I’ve learned the hard way during the past several weeks that it is very true.

As many people may know, high blood pressure has been a battle waged for several years. At one point, a doctor used the term “dangerously high” when he saw the numbers. Basically, the first number was in the 200s. That’s not an exaggeration, either. In fact, during a doctor’s visit this week, the number was 164/134. Technically, that is also dangerous.

However, believe it or not, that was a good day. After the meeting with the doctor, I was prescribed medication I will probably have to take the rest of my life. As a colleague put it today, that clinches it: I’m officially old.

A little background: The annoying and strong headaches began about six weeks ago. They were just there, kind of lingering but  very annoying. About three weeks in, the headaches intensified and really peaked in the middle of a work day. It was impossible to concentrate and had to be the most debilitating headache I have ever experienced. The first instinct was to tough it out. I even conducted an interview or two while they were there. But in the early afternoon, I could no longer take it. I went to the hospital and got checked out. Again, that’s no exaggeration. I had a headache, of varying intensity, for about six weeks.

During those weeks the headaches were consuming my life, I complained more than I ever had before. It’s hard to explain exactly how debilitating the headaches were to people who, since they were children, probably dealt with any headache successfully with Tylenol. I was called emo, told I complained too much, you name it. It was definitely not my usual attitude.

However, since I’ve started taking the medication, I’ve felt better than ever. Maybe it’s a result of feeling so terrible and knowing how bad things can be. It really helps you appreciate it when you feel good. Now, I know it’s cheesy to be positive. For some reason, positive thinking seems to be looked down upon. But after feeling like a different person for several weeks, I have no problem coming out and saying that life is great right now and I hope the medication continues to do its work. Because everybody loves a happy Marco, right?

Memory lane, a trip down

It is not a stretch to say that my appreciation for where I have come from knows no bounds. Those who know me know this. But until today, perhaps even I did not know exactly how much I appreciated it.

As part of a state junior college journalism convention, a former adviser asked me to reprise my first acting role and speak to junior college students about the wonders of covering governmental bodies.

Daily Herald movie critic Dann Gire entertained students at the 2010 Illinois Community College Journalism Association convention at Elgin Community college.

The session was well attended considering my program with the absolutely awe-inspiring title “Covering Government” was held at the exact same time as Daily Herald film critic Dann Gire’s session, titled “How to be a Quote Whore in 10 Sleazy Steps.” I do believe I will be giving more attention to the title next time. The convention was held at my old stomping grounds, Elgin Community College, 1700 Spartan Drive, Elgin. I’ll let you guess the school’s mascot.

I didn’t expect much of a reaction within me when I arrived on campus. At first, it was nothing more than a chance to continue to hone my skills speaking in front of a group and teaching. I presented, they asked questions, we laughed, they learned. A follow-up email will impart a lot of what I know about the topic.

This was the newsroom of Elgin Community College's school newspaper, the Observer. Yes, this was all of it. In the upper part of the screen, you can see the book rack.

But it was after the session that some nostalgic thoughts popped in my head. I passed the classroom I aced a statistics class in. I passed a couple of biology classrooms. Again, aced them because my focus back then was on my grades. I even went by the office of the first “adviser” I had ever had, a woman who wasn’t necessarily an adviser by title but who had pointed me toward  journalism. Unfortunately, she was no longer at the school and I couldn’t thank her.

Then I walked into the ECC Observer’s “newsroom.” Quite frankly, the name fits as it is nothing more than a one-room office in the Student Life area. It did, however, bring me back to the four semesters and a summer I attended Elgin. The 50- to 60-hour workweeks that I did while going to school working toward a degree. The parking lot story that I knew was going to net me a Pulitzer Prize, or, at the very least, some award at the Illinois Community College Journalism Association convention, lovingly referred to as “ICK-JA.” And the woman in her mid-40s who was a non-traditional student, like me, but who handed me over a

My first journalism desk, by Playskool

newsroom copy of Carole Rich’s “Writing and Reporting News: A Coaching Method.” As she said at the time, “You will be able to use it more than anybody else here.”

Little did she know that for weeks I would take the book with me to work and read part of a chapter every night during my shift. Even after I transferred to Eastern Illinois University, I would break it out every now and then after class, especially during the semesters I did not have a journalism class. I was absolutely hooked. If there were a large bag filled with things and events that made me pursue journalism, that moment when the woman saw how much I asked about the book and decided to give it to me would be included.

I have since passed that book on but do have an updated version I occasionally take a peek at. So what is the point of this rant? I suppose there is not much of a point to it other than to show my appreciation for a school like Elgin Community College. If not for that school, I would not have pursued journalism. Its convenience and location kept me encouraged and pushed me to make the ultimate decision that anything sacrificed to transfer to Eastern would be worth it.  And it was.