Chapter 1

The Adventures of Richard Garrettson

by: Garrett Richardson

Chapter 1: An Education

We meet Richard in the Spring of 2009.  He is in his final semester at the University and is very excited for the challenges ahead.  He is a broadcast journalism major with a minor in Law & the Liberal Arts.  All his life, Richard wanted to work in the film industry, but when it came time to apply for the film program, he discovered that he would have to transfer to the Main Campus a semester early.  Not ready to make such a drastic change so quickly, he sought the advice of his trusted advisor.  She told him that if he liked film, Broadcast Journalism might be the way to go because you basically learn the same things.  He found out quickly that this wasn't the case.  Instead of learning interesting camera shots and editing techniques, Richard learned about the, "If it bleeds, it leads," theory, which states that the most violent stories are the most newsworthy and should be run at the beginning of the broadcast.  The more disenchanted he became with his major, the more Richard thought about Law School as an alternative to a career in Journalism.  He started to set himself on cruise control during the Broadcast classes and pay more attention to his courses that dealt with law and the justice system.

         Through some devilishly clever scheduling, Richard’s last semester was far and away his easiest.  He had three real classes that met on Tuesday and Thursday, and two online courses that he completed at his leisure.

(Tuesday/Thursday - Intro to Basketball 8:00-9:30, Squash I 10:00-11:00, Criminology 2:30-4:00)

As graduation grew ever closer, Richard’s classmates talked about their internships for the following summer or the entry level job offers they had received, while Richard sat back, content with his lack of a plan, because he was going to be a big shot lawyer someday. 
Through it all, he drew cartoons...