After my freshman year — once I hesitantly declared my English major — I was still largely lost and confused about what I wanted to be when I grew up. There were so many areas that I was interested in, but I had trouble choosing just one to focus on. Then, one day, I got an email from the English major advisor, who explained that the Daily Utah Chronicle was looking for more copy editors. To be honest, I’m not sure at that moment that I knew what copy editing meant, but I knew the opportunity sounded too good to pass up.

Now, after three years of copy editing for the Chronicle, two and a half years copy editing for Wasatch Magazine and nearly two years of writing for the arts desk at the Chronicle, I can safely declare that joining the Chronicle was one of the best decisions I made during my undergraduate career. The Chronicle gave me the opportunity to explore my interests in writing and editing, and I know that I am graduating as a much better writer because of it.

As a copy editor, most of my work is done behind the scenes to make sure that other articles are grammatically correct, clear to read, tell the truth and adhere to AP Stylebook standards. This work is tedious at times, but I have many fond memories of working in the office — yelling about the various convoluted rules of the AP style or ranting about a certain article that was difficult to fact-check. This fall, I helped the Chronicle to live-tweet and fact-check statements during the 2020 Vice Presidential Debate that was held on the University of Utah campus. As I frantically conducted research and drafted tweets, I was exhilarated by the process, and I was happy to play a small part in this work because it felt so meaningful.

Once I surpassed a year as a copy editor, I knew I wanted to continue working as an editor, but I also wanted to write articles like the ones I spent so much time reading. So, I added writing for the arts desk onto my plate — and I’m so glad I did. For my very first article, I had the opportunity to interview Matt and Kim — a band that I remembered listening to in the early 2010s. With the arts desk, I was able to attend the Matt and Kim concert — as well as many other concerts, events, art shows, plays and movies. This year, in 2021, the Sundance Film Festival was online, but nevertheless, I loved “attending” Sundance and reviewing brand-new films.

Working at the Chronicle over the past three years has been an amazing experience and one that I will look back on fondly. I have loved the work that I have contributed, but more than that, this organization has provided incredible connections and friendships. To people who graduated several years ago, and to those who won’t graduate for a while, thank you for making this experience so wonderful. I can only hope to find something similar in whatever future job I take after graduating.

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@kateannebutton