On the very first day of cherubs, I committed a spit listable offense.  I was late for our first meeting in Fisk Hall.  Fortunately, I had my roommate, Mary Beth Kalvaitis, with me.

It all began in Jones Residential College when Mary Beth and I sat bonding in our room on the first floor. We talked about everything from college and our high schools, to our friends and families.  Our lengthy conversation caused us to lose track of time. The meeting in Fisk was at 6:30 p.m. and it was already 6:20 p.m. 

“Don’t worry,” my roommate said. “We can be there in no time.”

I wish she had been right.  We ventured out for Fisk Hall but neither of us had any idea where we were going.  I kept thinking that we should have just gone with the group. As we went outside, it started to rain.  Perfect, I thought, just perfect.

Now I know how easy it is to find Fisk from Jones. It takes about two minutes.  But, that first day, I was a disoriented cherub who had never been to Northwestern University before. We wandered for at least 15 minutes before finally stumbling upon Fisk.  I don’t know how we did it, but we managed to find some crazy back entrance that I haven’t used since that day.

Mary Beth and I found the lecture hall and braced ourselves for the walk of shame.  It was the first day and I had already embarrassed myself. Mary Beth opened the door slightly.

“Oh no, they’re all looking at us,” she whispered.

After a moment, we bravely entered the hall.  I never lifted my eyes from the floor.  I didn’t dare make eye contact with my punctual peers who were on time or my teachers who would be upset with tardiness.

As we walked in, program director Roger Boye was explaining the consequences of underage drinking at cherubs. Then he talked about being late. Punctuality is important if you want to be a cherub, Roger said.

“The 6:00 news starts at 6:00, not 6:01,” he said as I slid down in my seat. 

Roger said being punctual is so crucial because it means not wasting people’s valuable time.  He continued to say that being late will get you a spot on the spit list. If you are on the spit list, you have to report at 6:00 a.m. on a Sunday to the lobby of Jones to perform some annoying and strenuous task.

The good news was that I didn’t get spit listed, and Roger didn’t yell at me for being late on my first day. When I talked to him about it later, he understood.  He said cherubs are excused on the first night because they don’t know where Fisk was.

In journalism (and even at journalism camp), being on time does matter.  You don’t always have ample time to write a story. Deadlines count, and if you don’t make them, editors won’t be happy. 

It is also important to keep on your sources’ good side.  People won’t want to talk to you if you keep them waiting. 

Tardiness can get you spit listed in the cherub program but I learned that the consequences are much more severe in the real world. I mean, imagine the chaos if the 6:00 news started one minute later.