Having a job where every day is different is the perfect place to be for a journalist, according to Los Angeles Times reporter Kevin Baxter.

“I wanted to do something different. I didn’t want to do the same thing everyday like my father did. And with journalism I could do that,” Baxter said.

Baxter said that he always wanted to be a journalist and he has been one for the last 35 years. He started his career in high school when he began to work for a professional newspaper. Then, he worked at a magazine for two years.

Baxter currently works as a sports writer. Baseball is his favorite sport to write about. He used to go to little league games and write short stories about what happened.

On Nov. 28 Baxter gave a speech to Adriana Chavira’s second period Journalism 1 class to inspire future journalists. He assured the students that the best stories are out in the field and that curiosity is the greatest tool to use when thinking of what to write.

“The best kind of stories involve something that is unusual,” Baxter said.

Baxter is among the journalists who visit the journalism students at Daniel Pearl Magnet High School. Since last year, he has volunteered his time to work with the staff of The Pearl Post. He works with the staff writers one-on-one to edit and rewrite their stories.

In November, three people with the Los Angeles Times’ photography department began teaching the yearbook and newspaper staffs about photography and audio slides.

Baxter said journalism is a tough job because there are not many days off. There is always a story to tell. In his opinion, the best part of being a journalist is traveling, even if the unexpected happens.

Baxter talked about some tips on journalism, such as how he writes the entire story before he writes the lead because the lead is the hardest thing to write. He also said that journalist should always focus on the highlight of the story and be open-minded.

“Kevin Baxter helped me a lot. I’m always stuck on my lead but thanks to him I know that it’s okay to be stuck, just write your story and the lead will come to you,” said Megan Metz, a junior in the period 2 journalism class.