(Courtesy Google Images)
By Tom Mitsos
Edited by Liz Reyna
Many people wouldn’t be thinking about changing careers after 15 years. But, not only did Grand Valley State University Professor Amorak Huey think about it, he did it.
Huey has worked at newspapers all over the U.S. including the Tallahassee Democrat in Florida, the News-Enterprise in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, the Lexington Herald-Leader in Kentucky, and the Grand Rapids Press in Michigan.
At the Grand Rapids Press, Huey was the assistant sports editor. He was a copy editor at the other three locations. Currently, Huey is a writing professor.
So, what prompted the switch from newspaper writing to teaching about writing?
“I didn’t like where the paper was going,” he said referring to the state of newspapers in today’s society.
Huey said many people are getting their news online rather than in the newspaper.
“Print product is not long,” he said. “The New York Times will always have a product, but Detroit only publishes three times a week.”
Huey said in order to stop newspapers from becoming extinct, there needs to be more public journalism like National Public Radio. He said it’s so hard for newspapers because they are trying to make a profit while NPR is just trying to break even.
Despite the criticism of the newspaper, Huey said he enjoyed his time at his former jobs. He said the tight deadlines gave him an adrenaline rush he loved.
“It’s like publishing a book a day,” he said.
Huey said he enjoyed explaining the news to the readers, which he related to what a professor does everyday. In addition to being able to explain information to others, both the newspaper job and the teaching job require you to be “on” everyday, he said.
“There is no time to stop and get lazy,” he added.
For the majority of his newspaper career, Huey was a copywriter. As a copywriter, it was his job to edit other reporters’ articles.
However, Huey did do some writing occasionally.
When he joined the Grand Rapids Press in 2000, he was the assistant sports editor. His job was to oversee the copy editors. He also planned the stories that would go into the paper.
Mary Ullmer, executive sports editor at the Grand Rapids Press, said Huey was quiet when he first started working at the Press.
“However, it became apparent he knew what he was doing,” she said.
Ullmer said the first thing she noticed about Huey was his first name.
Huey said the name “Amorak” is an Eskimo name meaning “spirit of the wolf.” He said his mom found it in the book“Never Cry Wolf”and liked it.
Ullmer also said Huey is an intelligent person and has good leadership skills.
“He’s in the top three of people that I’ve worked with,” she said. “He always has an explanation and a reason for doing things.”
Ullmer still talks to Huey today, despite him switching professions. She said she talks to him about how to approach problems or if she just wants to run some ideas by him.
One of the aspects that Huey hated at the Press was the hours. He said his day started at 3 a.m. and he would work until noon. On weekends, he worked from 4 p.m. until 1 a.m.
“I worked every weekend for 15 years,” he said. “That’s when sports happen...on weekends.”
Huey said these hours were another reason he wanted to leave the business. As a professor, he works regular hours and he doesn’t have to work on weekends.
When Huey was going to college, he knew he wanted to write for a living, but he wasn’t exactly sure how he would go about doing that.
In 1992, he graduated from Birmingham-Southern College with a degree in English and a minor in political science. He then went to Florida State to get a master’s degree in English.
However, when he transferred to Western Michigan University, located in Kalamazoo, he soon realized graduate school was not for him.
“If you don’t have a goal, graduate school is tough,” he said.
Despite knowing graduate school was heading in the wrong direction, Huey finished his master’s degree in 2007 in English.
In the fall of 2007, while still working full-time at the Grand Rapids Press, Huey participated in adjunct teaching at GVSU. Becky Beard, a former student of Huey’s, liked his teaching style.
“He made us think outside the box,” she said.
Beard had Huey for a writing in sports class at GVSU. She said it was Huey’s class that ultimately made her want to become a sports writer.
“I’ve always thought about it, but now I really want to focus on it,” she said.
Beard admitted she did not know what to expect going into the class.
She thought it might have been a “blow-off” class but worked very hard just in case.
In the fall of 2008, Huey was offered a full-time job at GVSU.
While Huey may no longer write on a daily basis, he still writes, and is hoping to get his work published. He writes poetry and is also working on a novel. He described the novel as a mystery thriller.
Huey is living proof that it is never too late to change your career.
While he went to graduate school with little hope in his efforts, Huey would have never been able to teach without a master’s degree.
The future is often difficult to discern, but being prepared and step-by-step helped Huey along in a life he did not foresee, but is happy, he has.
Edited by Liz Reyna
Many people wouldn’t be thinking about changing careers after 15 years. But, not only did Grand Valley State University Professor Amorak Huey think about it, he did it.
Huey has worked at newspapers all over the U.S. including the Tallahassee Democrat in Florida, the News-Enterprise in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, the Lexington Herald-Leader in Kentucky, and the Grand Rapids Press in Michigan.
At the Grand Rapids Press, Huey was the assistant sports editor. He was a copy editor at the other three locations. Currently, Huey is a writing professor.
So, what prompted the switch from newspaper writing to teaching about writing?
“I didn’t like where the paper was going,” he said referring to the state of newspapers in today’s society.
Huey said many people are getting their news online rather than in the newspaper.
“Print product is not long,” he said. “The New York Times will always have a product, but Detroit only publishes three times a week.”
Huey said in order to stop newspapers from becoming extinct, there needs to be more public journalism like National Public Radio. He said it’s so hard for newspapers because they are trying to make a profit while NPR is just trying to break even.
Despite the criticism of the newspaper, Huey said he enjoyed his time at his former jobs. He said the tight deadlines gave him an adrenaline rush he loved.
“It’s like publishing a book a day,” he said.
Huey said he enjoyed explaining the news to the readers, which he related to what a professor does everyday. In addition to being able to explain information to others, both the newspaper job and the teaching job require you to be “on” everyday, he said.
“There is no time to stop and get lazy,” he added.
For the majority of his newspaper career, Huey was a copywriter. As a copywriter, it was his job to edit other reporters’ articles.
However, Huey did do some writing occasionally.
When he joined the Grand Rapids Press in 2000, he was the assistant sports editor. His job was to oversee the copy editors. He also planned the stories that would go into the paper.
Mary Ullmer, executive sports editor at the Grand Rapids Press, said Huey was quiet when he first started working at the Press.
“However, it became apparent he knew what he was doing,” she said.
Ullmer said the first thing she noticed about Huey was his first name.
Huey said the name “Amorak” is an Eskimo name meaning “spirit of the wolf.” He said his mom found it in the book“Never Cry Wolf”and liked it.
Ullmer also said Huey is an intelligent person and has good leadership skills.
“He’s in the top three of people that I’ve worked with,” she said. “He always has an explanation and a reason for doing things.”
Ullmer still talks to Huey today, despite him switching professions. She said she talks to him about how to approach problems or if she just wants to run some ideas by him.
One of the aspects that Huey hated at the Press was the hours. He said his day started at 3 a.m. and he would work until noon. On weekends, he worked from 4 p.m. until 1 a.m.
“I worked every weekend for 15 years,” he said. “That’s when sports happen...on weekends.”
Huey said these hours were another reason he wanted to leave the business. As a professor, he works regular hours and he doesn’t have to work on weekends.
When Huey was going to college, he knew he wanted to write for a living, but he wasn’t exactly sure how he would go about doing that.
In 1992, he graduated from Birmingham-Southern College with a degree in English and a minor in political science. He then went to Florida State to get a master’s degree in English.
However, when he transferred to Western Michigan University, located in Kalamazoo, he soon realized graduate school was not for him.
“If you don’t have a goal, graduate school is tough,” he said.
Despite knowing graduate school was heading in the wrong direction, Huey finished his master’s degree in 2007 in English.
In the fall of 2007, while still working full-time at the Grand Rapids Press, Huey participated in adjunct teaching at GVSU. Becky Beard, a former student of Huey’s, liked his teaching style.
“He made us think outside the box,” she said.
Beard had Huey for a writing in sports class at GVSU. She said it was Huey’s class that ultimately made her want to become a sports writer.
“I’ve always thought about it, but now I really want to focus on it,” she said.
Beard admitted she did not know what to expect going into the class.
She thought it might have been a “blow-off” class but worked very hard just in case.
In the fall of 2008, Huey was offered a full-time job at GVSU.
While Huey may no longer write on a daily basis, he still writes, and is hoping to get his work published. He writes poetry and is also working on a novel. He described the novel as a mystery thriller.
Huey is living proof that it is never too late to change your career.
While he went to graduate school with little hope in his efforts, Huey would have never been able to teach without a master’s degree.
The future is often difficult to discern, but being prepared and step-by-step helped Huey along in a life he did not foresee, but is happy, he has.
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