No, Mom.

Photo Credit: Alvin Wan

Krislock performs some heavy work at the Newspaper Conference in Long Beach, CA.

Alvin Wan, Blogger
August 8, 2011
Filed under Features, Top Stories

“Say what you think, but when you can’t speak, writing is the next best thing,” Zach Krislock said.

Krislock, former champion of the national JEA and son of Writing Camp Director Connie Krislock, began writing for his school newspaper late in his high school experience. But there is one thing that separates him from his own mother and even the rest of the retired writing society: he’s stopped writing.

“I’ve been writing for some five years now, but I just got out of school,” Krislock said. “I’m done with writing.”

Although Krislock’s writing and journalistic experience did take him far, passion for the job never developed. There were no preparations for writing. Winning first place? No sweat.

“When I finished, my mom asked me, ‘How was it? How’d you do?’ but I didn’t care. I was on vacation and I was having a great time,” Krislock said. “The next day, we had the awards ceremony, and as it turns out, I won the whole thing.”

In his case, writing is certainly a skill. Nevertheless, for him, writing is not a hobby.

“I didn’t enjoy writing. Sometimes it felt like a task,” said Krislock. ” Sometimes, it was even a little too tedious.”

In the end, Krislock decided sports would be the better option to work towards. As a current football and soccer coach, Krislock  gives private lessons and dedicates himself to sports.

“I want to help the youth of America,” Krislock said. “But [journalism has] also been a great experience. It helped me in my job, the experience in journalism. I knew what journalists wanted, and sometimes I’d try to help give them the quote they needed.”

It’s no career geared in the direction of his mother’s, but there is no doubt that he has been able to utilize his past experiences for what he does now. It doesn’t take a “no, mom” for success. It takes a “yes” for success and a “no” to failure.