It’s not every occasion that North Atlanta High School gets the luxury of having a special guest walk through its halls. On February 20, CBS 46 Atlanta news anchor Tracye Hutchins came to room 4119, the Journalism 1 classroom of teacher Chantel Lowe, in order to give students a picture of the daily life of a news anchor and to provide a first-hand look at the field of journalism today.

Hutchins, a North Atlanta parent, is the mother of junior Paige Overmyer. This year marked her second successive year of speaking to North Atlanta journalism students.

She let them know that being a news anchor isn’t always just a glamour shot experience and strictly a 9-5 job. There is a whole lot more being put in behind the scenes. “To do this job you truly have to want to do it. There’s a lot of subjective pressure,” she said. “A lot of your success can be based on how you look and if someone likes you. If they get tired of you, they can go with someone else. There is always a clause in your contract: If they don’t like you or something goes wrong, they can get rid of you.”

She grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada, and attended the North Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona. There she majored in broadcast journalism. “In college I received a very broad scope of skills and this certainly served me well in starting out my career,” she said.

Hutchins started off as a reporter for a small market station in Kirksville, Missouri. She was there for nine months and while working there had a not-so-whopping salary of $10,000 a year. “This is definitely not the kind of job that you can just walk in and expect to start making a lot of money. They try to get you young and cheap,” she said.

Many of the students in Lowe’s class wanted how working in the field affects Hutchins personally and there were questions about whether crime stories can change her perspective on life. “After seeing all the crime in the world, you start to realize how unsafe many things are. You start to be a little more cautious of the things you do,” Hutchins said.

Students in Lowe’s class said they were captivated by stories and advice from a professional who has accomplished so much in journalistic circles. “It was definitely interesting to hear about how overwhelming her job is,” said freshman Dimitri Tsoukalas. “I might still look into the broadcasting field for a future job so it was great to get the real story.”

Hutchins said the variety of experiences that her job entails always makes it interesting. “I continue to learn new things everyday and that’s one thing I truly like about my job,” she said.

Broadcasting is exciting but not always a glamorous job, Hutchins said. But it’s certainly a beneficial job for the community she covers. And it’s a benefit for North Atlanta students when an experienced broadcaster shares career insights.