Fall 2007....Done, Complete, Finished

So I finished what I expect to be my last semester at BYU ever. And it's kinda crazy. The last four months weren't anything like I expected them to be. In fact, they were completely opposite of every expectation I had. While it hasn't quite hit me that I am completely done, I've have looked back and realized I've done a heck of a lot this semester. There are several things that I definitely neglected and I probably didn't do as well in several areas of my life as I would have liked. But I can't believe that I actually accomplished some of the things that I did. So I present: My Semester Accomplishments

1. Successfully working four well-paying on-campus jobs

People say I'm crazy, but when the opportunities came, I just couldn't turn them down. I didn't work because I needed the money, but because I loved the experiences each job offered and the chance I had to further develop my skills. I wonder how many people actually have this many jobs on campus in one semester. (Wow, I've actually had 6 on-campus jobs at BYU including the Daily Universe and staff for Stadium of Fire) I also wonder how many people they actually let defy the hour limits....by the end of the semester, I'm pretty sure I had no limits on what I could work. It started as 20, went up to 25 for the design job, got an additional 20 a week of the editing job, and then of course, the TC has special privileges concerning hours during finals. I never, however, worked all four jobs in one week- the most I did was three: Finals week = 45 hours, 1st week in November = 40.

2. Designing the layout for an entire 34-page alumni magazine

This was such an amazing opportunity and is really the essence of what I really really want to be doing for a career. I have no idea how I will find out about future chances to completely design small magazines, but if I could do this one every year, I would jump at such an opportunity. This has been an amazing portfolio builder and I have loved every second I have spent working on it. (Yes, redesigning the cover like 17 times was a bit much but still very fun.) I have yet to see the final product-hopefully that will happen the first of January-and I hope everything will go smoothly and it really will look amazing.

3. Securing a freelance editing position for as long as I want it

Freelancing is always a bit hard to jump into, so I am completely thrilled that I have this set up already to last for as long as I want it. I went to the interview thinking that I wouldn't take the position - afterall, I simply didn't have enough time. But after they talked about what I would be doing and that they really wanted the position to turn longterm and have me work from home or whatever I end up doing later in life...well, can someone really turn that down?? I love that it is for magazine content, so the articles are short and semi-interesting....I just have to make it all the more so and perfect for the intended audience. In my last editing class, I kinda dreaded every assignment but that's because I know that I never never want to go into book editing, or anything for long, boring, technical writing - No thank you! But....I'll take this magazine one!

4. Making it through 3+ "cuts" and securing an internship with the Church Magazines.

This was such a long process and I had so many up and down thoughts about the whole thing. But now that it's here and secure, I'm really excited and amazed at the opportunities that keep presenting themselves to me. I'm going to be writing for the Ensign and Liahona, kinda a big task considering the multi-million, international audience. I've always enjoyed writing and have always been told that I'm a good writer, but it's kinda interesting to really see where it takes me. I actually just received feedback on my internship portfolio that I turned into the Comms department and the professor gave me really good feedback on my writing style. In all of the writing work that I've done, I haven't very often had a completely objective person tell me what they think about it (as compared to an editor or boss). I always wonder what the people from the jobs I apply to really think about my writing....is it about average, above, etc....I just don't know. Anyways, I think this opportunity will be really good for me to strengthen this aspect of my skill set just a little more....plus give me a little time to find-hopefully-the perfect thing to do after the NEXT four months.