As the series progresses, however, Clarissa discovers that journalism is a good field for her after all, that she is (after growing up some) able to handle the responsibility involved, and that sometimes a journalist's job is not to be completely objective.
Before settling on a choice of careers, Clarissa is eager to try out other job options. In the first season, however, her parents initially don't see her as being ready for a job. In episode 111 (Parents Who Say No), Clarissa has to try just about everything before her parents will let her apply for work at the Baxter Beach Carnival. While Clarissa is not happy with the job she is assigned, her parents are impressed with the responsibility she shows.
In the second season, Clarissa has very little idea what field she wants to work in. In episode 123 (Misguidance Counselor), her indecision leads the guidance conselor Mrs. Cheesebrow to say, "You just don't seem to take your future seriously enough."
Clarissa's career begins to take shape in the third season. This season starts with episode 131 (Punch the Clocks), in which Clarissa decides to get a job, and ends up taking on many jobs at once. In episode 146 (Hero Worship), we find that Clarissa is writing for her school paper, a position that turns out to set her career track.
The fourth seson establishes Clarissa's career path, with her becoming secure in her decision to stick with journalism. It begins with episode 155 (Editor-In-Chief), in which she becomes editor-in-chief of her high school's newspaper, a job about which she is really enthusiastic and in which she shows a selfless responsibility even when it becomes really hard and strains her relationships with other people. In episode 158 (Sam's Dad), given a choice of selections for possible internships, Clarissa decides to forgo other possibilities in favor of a commitment to journalism, and comes to work with Sam's father at the Dispatch, a newspaper in "the real world." In episode 162 (Dear Clarissa), Clarissa diversifies her position on the school paper to write an advice column, which ends up getting published in a popular magazine as well. Then, back to the real world, in episode 163 (UFO) Clarissa obtains a part-time position on the staff of the Dispatch, as a reporter. And in episode 164 (Clarissa Gets Arrested), Clarissa becomes indignant over a nearby business's animal testing, and finds a journalist's non-objective role as she uses her paper to decry the practice. By the end of the episode, she is in all her area's papers, because her activism has landed her in jail, with the help of a little unintended mishap. She has clearly become a mature, serious, dedicated journalist with a firm belief in putting the power of the press to the best possible use.