EDITOR’S NOTE

from Pasadena magazine - September/October 2021

Insights from City of Hope

LEARNING CENTER

Some of the greatest professional tools aren’t taught in school.

People often ask me whether I was a journalism major in college. I wasn’t. I went into college thinking I wanted to eventually work at a magazine, but I didn’t love the English department at my university. It was oddly full of multiple-choice tests and quizzes based on reading comprehension. No thank you. I gravitated toward writing because it wasn’t based on memorization but creation. Instead, I started taking art history classes, fell in love with that department, and switched majors. I spent a couple of amazing summers during college interning at the Museum of Contemporary Art, which brie y led me to dream of becoming a curator. However, I realized I didn’t want to spend the next 8–10 years of my life in graduate school, only to come out with a rare ed degree and have only a handful of jobs open to me. Instead, I started interning at Robb Report magazine, where my background in art history (focusing mostly on modern and contemporary design and architecture) was the perfect t for the home design

“I started interning at Robb Report magazine, where my background in art history (focusing mostly on modern and contemporary design and architecture) was the perfect fit for the home design and real estate editor.”

and real estate editor, who was working on four different magazines for the brand. I worked my way from intern to senior editor by the time I was 26. Hard work and having a niche background to t the brand’s needs paid off. But when it comes to education, most of what I’ve learned to help me in my career hasn’t come from school, but from experience in the eld. Yes, I had an amazing English teacher in high school who took the time to help me improve my writing. But I was never someone who liked learning in a classroom or behind a desk. There’s no class that covers how to improvise when a model doesn’t make their ight for a photo shoot or what to do when a copy editor disappears during deadline. Most of my training has come from real-life experiences—and trial and error. When it comes to education, there are many different ways to learn and get better at something.

In this issue, we explore a variety of ways to learn. First, Sarah Carr investigates what school will look like this fall on page 108. But because “education” also happens outside the classroom, we include a range of ways to learn long after graduation, whether it’s how to use a Fliteboard (page 48) or what you need to know about prostate cancer right now (page 128).

School is just one of many moments in time that helps build our character and interests. And for me—and probably many of you—learning is a lifelong, even daily, endeavor. Back to school this fall? Count me in.