Bartender Hones People Skills as She Dreams of Life as Journalist
BY TAYLOR BROWN
It’s a little after five o’clock and the parking lot of Bud Murphy’s is already a sea of cars.
Bartender Lisa Cameron, 36, will be pouring her first beer within seconds of stepping behind the bar and clocking in. But this is nothing new to her. It is just another hectic, but typical Friday night at work.
Cameron earned a degree in communication disorders from California University of Pennsylvania and was hired almost immediately after graduation with Intermediate Unit One as an early detection speech therapist.
During her time as a speech therapist, Cameron had two children and committed herself to the role of stay-at-home mom to Ryan, now 9, and Carlie, 7. It was during this time she realized she was not where she was meant to be in her life, so she decided to drift away from her first degree to pursue something that she had always been passionate about: journalism.
“My first degree was my parent’s degree, but journalism will be mine,” Cameron said. “I know I am a talented writer and I believe in the power of words.”
In order for Cameron to return to school and make her longtime dream a reality, she knew she would need to find a part-time job that would fit into her already hectic schedule. It was then that she found her way to bartending, which became a better fit than she could have hoped for.
“Returning to school for me just made sense because I was going back for something that didn’t seem like work,” Cameron said. “I was going back for something that was a true passion.”
These days, Cameron finds herself doing her homework beside her two children.
“We grow together,” Cameron said. “I teach them that it is never too late or inopportune to reach a goal.”
Although the process for Cameron has been slow-moving, with every class that she takes her dream of becoming a professional writer gets closer to being realized.
“I have more on my transcript than the Gettysburg Address,” Cameron said. “So in other words, four score and a bazillion classes later, I am still pursuing my dreams.”
Cameron has no specific timeline about when she will graduate from Cal with her journalism degree, but she hopes that with the support of her family, she will graduate within the next two years. But even then, she is not sure she will be ready to step out from behind the bar.
“I may hold onto bartending until there is greater stability,” Cameron said. “And I am OK with that, provided I do not stagnate.”
Someday, Cameron hopes to have a column in a newspaper or magazine in which she can voice her opinions to a large audience or perhaps do some freelancing. Until then, bartending is going to allow her to keep her people (and interview) skills polished.
“Bartending is reaching out loud live and in person,” Cameron said. “Writing is reaching out with thought and consideration. It’s all a matter of semantics.”
Taylor Brown is a sophomore at California University of Pennsylvania, majoring in journalism. Visit her website here.
It’s a little after five o’clock and the parking lot of Bud Murphy’s is already a sea of cars.
Bartender Lisa Cameron, 36, will be pouring her first beer within seconds of stepping behind the bar and clocking in. But this is nothing new to her. It is just another hectic, but typical Friday night at work.
Cameron earned a degree in communication disorders from California University of Pennsylvania and was hired almost immediately after graduation with Intermediate Unit One as an early detection speech therapist.
During her time as a speech therapist, Cameron had two children and committed herself to the role of stay-at-home mom to Ryan, now 9, and Carlie, 7. It was during this time she realized she was not where she was meant to be in her life, so she decided to drift away from her first degree to pursue something that she had always been passionate about: journalism.
“My first degree was my parent’s degree, but journalism will be mine,” Cameron said. “I know I am a talented writer and I believe in the power of words.”
In order for Cameron to return to school and make her longtime dream a reality, she knew she would need to find a part-time job that would fit into her already hectic schedule. It was then that she found her way to bartending, which became a better fit than she could have hoped for.
“Returning to school for me just made sense because I was going back for something that didn’t seem like work,” Cameron said. “I was going back for something that was a true passion.”
These days, Cameron finds herself doing her homework beside her two children.
“We grow together,” Cameron said. “I teach them that it is never too late or inopportune to reach a goal.”
Although the process for Cameron has been slow-moving, with every class that she takes her dream of becoming a professional writer gets closer to being realized.
“I have more on my transcript than the Gettysburg Address,” Cameron said. “So in other words, four score and a bazillion classes later, I am still pursuing my dreams.”
Cameron has no specific timeline about when she will graduate from Cal with her journalism degree, but she hopes that with the support of her family, she will graduate within the next two years. But even then, she is not sure she will be ready to step out from behind the bar.
“I may hold onto bartending until there is greater stability,” Cameron said. “And I am OK with that, provided I do not stagnate.”
Someday, Cameron hopes to have a column in a newspaper or magazine in which she can voice her opinions to a large audience or perhaps do some freelancing. Until then, bartending is going to allow her to keep her people (and interview) skills polished.
“Bartending is reaching out loud live and in person,” Cameron said. “Writing is reaching out with thought and consideration. It’s all a matter of semantics.”
Taylor Brown is a sophomore at California University of Pennsylvania, majoring in journalism. Visit her website here.