The Job

After four years of intense journalistic training, I went to my first job and felt like I was fresh out of high school. Never mind that I’m at least four years younger than anyone else at the office, the real root of this feeling was that half of my job requires something I have little experience in.

I’m no graphic artist, but I can put a page together well enough ... or so I thought. My first night was quite frustrating, as I had to ask at least 50 questions to my colleagues for simple, nit-picky stuff.

And then there’s the local style. Everywhere that’s not Alaska is known as Outside. If you’re not in Fairbanks or near the coast, you live in the Bush. It’s only a matter of time before Alaskans are referred to Us, and everyone else is called Them.

But by my second week on the job, I was calmer and getting into the groove. My desk chief, Julie, is a fellow UF grad. She and I began shooting the breeze about Gainesville 1984 vs. Gainesville 2007. So far we haven’t run out of college stories.

The last character on the copy desk is Gary, whom I briefly mentioned a few posts back. He’s still got the mindset of one of Them. He’s a Texas guy in Alaska, not an Alaskan. A politics junkie, Gary’s good for an oddball story or a different perspective.

Finally secure enough in my work to look up from my computer from time to time, I found my desk is in a prime position. I’m right next to the sports desk, so I can always strike up a good conversation. And, best of all, I’m facing the newsroom’s only TV. Everyone except Gary loves football, so there’s always a good college or pro game playing.

Saturday nights, the copy desk and sportswriters hit up The Big I ... followed by early Sunday mornings when the Bucs play at 9 a.m. ... which leads to another copy desk shift until 1 a.m. It’s by choice, but weekends up here leave me as tapped-out as home-game weekends at UF.

Looking back, the things that stumped me were quirks that change from newspaper to newspaper, so I shouldn’t feel too bad. But still, I’m s-l-o-w at paginating, and I think I could be doing a lot better.