Journalism ranked high in list of 10 most stressful jobs but is worth it

If you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the newsroom.

Jobs website CareerCast.com released its lists of the 10 most and 10 least stressful jobs of 2013. While some of the entries on the most stressful list seem obvious, including the top four of commercial airline pilot, firefighter, military general and, deemed the most stressful job, enlisted military personnel, others on the list stand out.

Photojournalist and newspaper reporter made the most stressful list in the seventh and eighth slots, respectively.

While it might seem crazy to list journalists above taxi drivers and police officers, these rankings aren’t so surprising to some of us in the field.

Since throwing myself into the world of journalism, my stress level has skyrocketed. Some might argue that being a college journalist is working on too small a scale to compare to professionals, but that is simply untrue.

As working journalists, my co-workers and I rarely, if ever, have a day off. News doesn’t stop, so neither can we. Our days are long, and it’s often a thankless job. We skip meals, and we skip sleep.

There are few days as a journalist that go by without any stress, but there are no days where I think what I’m doing isn’t worth it. I might substitute lattes for food, and late nights responding to emails for a solid eight hours of sleep, but that’s all just part of the job.

The list of least stressful jobs provides some appealing options — seamstress, jeweler, hairstylist, librarian — but once you get a taste of something you’re not only good at but passionate about, you simply can’t let that go. So while being a university professor (regarded as the least stressful job overall) might save me some sleepless nights and starving days, journalism is still it for me.