Looking for arrivals from the road less traveled.

Individuals will be no better journalists than they are people, a professor once told me. Of course, that's also true for doctors, lawyers, plumbers, even presidents.

We are the sum of all our experiences - good and bad. When we are editorial writers, trying to make sense of the world, adding perspective to the news, and passing judgment on people, the more experiences we've had, the better our grounds for such judgments.

That's also why those who have reached the editorial board by non-traditional career paths may add richness to the discussion, a broader view for our pages and, thus, connections to more people who read our editorials.

My own path was non-traditional. After earning two journalism degrees from the University of Texas at Austin, I edited a magazine, then taught journalism and helped advise a student newspaper and magazine at a community college for 15 years.

When the editor of one of our local newspapers asked me if I would consider joining his staff as deputy editorial page editor, my initial response was, "Do you really think I could do that?" (Not the reply I would have counseled my students for a job they really wanted.)

"I would think you'd want an older person who'd covered City Hall for a long time," I continued.

No, he told me. "You will come to the job with a willingness to learn rather than a complacency that you already know." He was right, and that thought often bolstered me later when I wondered if I was ready for the trust he had placed in me.

During the 11 years I've spent on editorial pages, I've worked with those from traditional career paths - reporting backgrounds, often in politics and government. To a person, they have been great. Every department needs the experience and expertise offered by those who have watched the system work from a reporter's objective viewpoint.

But I've also worked with the mother of two youngsters whose education is in the humanities, a former business editor, young writers who once would not have been considered "seasoned," and several from minority groups with non-traditional backgrounds.

Even though both newspapers for which I have worked have steered a moderate path, ! have been continually amazed how much the day-to-day subject matter has been influenced by the life experiences and interests of members of the editorial board.

One single father, who joined the board after stints as varied as sports writing and covering Congress, is deeply concerned about issues affecting the disabled because of his son's disability. The working mother brought particular passion to writing about lack of day care, child abuse, and family violence.

Two younger editorial writers can connect with segments of our audience others cannot reach as well because they know more about today's popular culture than others of us do. But they of@en shift uncomfortably as we reminisce at length about the '60s.

An African-American member of our staff has read more deeply about issues including urban poverty, the civil rights movement, and emerging African nations than have the rest of us.

Much we share in common: an ability to write, love of the language, curiosity about current events, dedication to our community, a concern about fairness - in short, the qualities that must not be missing in good journalists.

But the roads that have brought us to the editorial board to pound out a philosophy for the newspaper are very different. Together, we are wiser than any one of us would be alone.

When we add someone to our group, we all participate in the decision. But, with ultimate responsibility for the hire, I quite willingly look in many different directions to find the right person, perhaps one from a road less traveled. If someone had not done that for me, I would have missed out on a fascinating, challenging career for the past decade.

NCEW member Lynnell Burkett is editorial page editor of the San Antonio Express-News. Her e-mail address is [e-mail]