Cedar Fort Internship

Back in January, I got the email I agonized over for most of my Christmas break. In December I applied for an internship at Cedar Fort Publishing because I wanted to get some experience in a publishing house to help me decided what I want to do for the rest of my life. I'm debating against being a freelance editor or working in a more traditional setting such as a publishing house or for a company editing their material. I got the internship and over the past three months and I have been doing that. I've proofread pieces as well as copy edited and source checking. I worked a lot with acquisitions, reading manuscripts from the slush pile. I also got to go attend meetings which gave me insider insight into how the company treats their editors and what to expect working for the company.

Officially Done

I am officially done with school! I am a college graduate (again)! I do not have to deal with the stresses of school anymore. No more literary analysis and constantly wondering if I have a thesis. No more endless reading and homework assignments. But seriously it was great going back to school to get my English degree. I learned so much and have become a better writer and editor with what I've learned and the feedback I received from great professors. I met some amazing people and made some great friends this time around. I interacted with my classmates this time around and it really did make the college experience that much better. Having personal relationships with my professors also helped me succeed and do well this time around. 

I had a lot of support and I enjoyed my time in school but I am happy to be done and moving on to better things. I can now put all of my focus on writing and breaking into the publishing business. My time working on Essais has given me the confidence I need to go out there and try. I feel like I have the skills to do it and to succeed at it if I put my all into it. The future is bright. 

~Teralyn

Essais Launch Night

Last Thursday, we had our launch night party where we presented the published copy of the journal I've been working on all semester. It was a lot of work, very stressful at times. I lost a lot of sleep worrying about how it would turn out but the finished product makes it all worth it. It was a great experience but it was so stressful and crazy and everything. I spent so many hours in my faculty advisor's office going over things for the journal whether it was making selections for submissions or editing or whatever was necessary. As stressful as it was I wouldn’t trade it for anything. The experience I gained is invaluable and will help me so much going forward. I learned that I can lead; I can be in charge of something as big as a journal. I know what I am doing and it helped give me faith in myself. I wouldn't have been able to do this without Christa D. Albrecht, Lydia Renée Kerr, Deirdre Nickel, and Landon Roper and the rest of the editing staff as well as faculty in the English Department.

~Teralyn

NaNoWriMo Winner

I haven’t been on here to post in a while because I’ve been working on my story for NaNoWriMo and I have been working on the journal and going to class. The last month has been one of the busiest months I’ve ever had in my life. Launch night for the journal is next week and school ends in a couple of weeks. I’ve been running around (in my head) doing everything to get the journal to the printer on time which meant making sure it is typeset correctly and that everything looks great. While also making sure I stayed on top of my school work for my senior seminar class.

NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month)

NaNoWriMo began today. This is national, worldwide, event where you’re required to write at least 50,000 words in one month (the month of November) and this year I’ve decided to participate. I found out about it late last year so I decided to try to participate this year.

It's Never Too Late

When saw this picture it made me think of myself and my circumstances. It's never too late to decide to do something new. Just because you've put time and effort into something, it doesn't mean you're tied to that dream. If it isn't a good fit, then move on and try something else. In my case, I just had to accept what my true dream was even if it doesn't seem noble enough or seem like it will help the world like being a lawyer. I am a writer. And that's that. It is what it is. My passion is in writing. So I am dreaming a new dream and going for what it is I want with no fear for how it will turn out. It'll work out the way it is supposed to work out. Until then I'm going to keep writing and making up stories I hope will one day touch and help people.

~Teralyn

Moving On

I moved to Utah in September of 2005, almost ten years ago. Since I’ve been here I’ve lived in the same duplex. Ten years in the same place. It was the stability I needed after all the moving I did when I was younger. I hate change. I hate it so much that I don’t even like to change my room around. It takes me too long to get back comfortable so it really bugs me. But some change is good even if you hate it.

First Day of My Last Semester

Today I started the first day of my absolutely last day of my undergraduate career. And I can honestly say that I am ready. I’m ready to get my second degree and be done with school. The first time I graduated I wasn’t quite ready, maybe I was unsure of what I wanted to really do even though I’d decided to go to law school. I was unsure of if I would be able to do it that is. I still had that thought in the back of my head about being a writer; my mindset was that I could always be a writer after my career was over. This time I feel like I will have the degree I was meant to have in the first place.

Editor-in-Chief, yay!

Today Christa emailed to tell me that I got the editor-in-chief position of Essais, a literary analysis journal at my school. I’m so excited for this opportunity but also really nervous. Being the editor-in-chief means I am responsible for everything. I am responsible for getting a great journal out by the end of the semester. If it doesn’t turn out well then it is on my head; everyone would be looking at me wondering what went wrong. But even this couldn’t or wouldn’t stop me from taking on this task. This is a great opportunity for me to see what it’s like to run a journal and be in charge. It’s also a chance for me to see how I will respond when I am in charge. I am a quiet person until I get to know you. I don’t step up to lead very often, frankly it frightens me but I’m not going to let that scare me away. I can’t wait to get started and see what this experience brings.  

~Teralyn

Pray for Charleston

Last night, June 17, a man walked into the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church and opened fire after sitting with the people at bible study for some time. He killed nine people. For someone to walk into a church where people are studying the bible is just beyond words. As Cornell William Brooks stated, "There is no greater coward than a criminal who enters a house of God and slaughters innocent people engaged in the study of scripture." What has this world come to? How have we gotten back to this? I feel as if we are reverting back to the days of Jim Crow. This shooting is reminiscent to the church bombing in Alabama that killed four little girls in 1963.