Associate Editor says goodbye
Kelli Fontenot
Issue date: 4/22/09 Section: Opinions
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In the middle of the night, dozens of meteors flew away from Lyra, my favorite constellation. The full moon probably made it hard to see some of the fainter fireballs, but astronomers all over the world were sipping espresso just before dawn, staring through the lenses of their telescopes, waiting for the pinpricks of light to streak across the sky.
It was, in all likelihood, one of the most beautiful moments of the year.
But I missed it. At the time, I was sitting in the Current Sauce office, marking final corrections with a soft red pencil.
I drank coffee.
I Googled.
I flipped through the Associated Press stylebook, asked questions, made phone calls, checked and double-checked until I had trouble keeping my eyes open.
Despite the trials of waking up for my 11 a.m. class every Wednesday after staying up until 7:30 a.m. working on this newspaper, I love it.
I love writing and editing. It's what I want to do with the rest of my life, and it's what I've been learning about for the last four years.
When I tell people that I am studying journalism, they get excited.
Their eyes light up, and they ask, "So, when will I see you on TV?"
When I explain that I want to edit and write articles instead, they nod, but it's clear that I have shattered their view of my glamorous future on the Channel 5 news.
I also don't plan to "make a name for myself as an investigatory journalist, no matter how many people I leave dead and bloodied and dying along the way," to quote "Zoolander."
Editing is a passion I've had for a long time. I love doing research and following a stylebook, as well as working with reporters on their stories and watching their writing improve over time. My experience with student media at this university has been invaluable to my education.
In recent years, reactions to my declared major have evolved into a general consensus that when I graduate, I will probably have to start waitressing.
Newspapers are scaling back, and jobs are disappearing throughout the industry.
I am aware that I'm probably entering this field at a bad time, but I'm excited about the challenges I will face.
In the end, the knowledge I obtained and the people I met along the way will certainly help to make up for the moments, mischief and meteors I've missed.
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