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Doors Opened

It’s almost the end of the road for my journey at the University of Iowa. Instructors and advisors have requested that seniors reflect on their time at the University to observe the changes that we’ve been through – not that such reflection requires a directive. I find myself often thinking about my journey through higher education. When I first started at the University of Iowa, I thought that I would work toward my Bachelor of Applied Studies, slowly, two or three online classes per semester, unsure when I would complete the final 60+ credit hours to earn my degree. However, this degree program was not my preferred line of learning. Classes that were available online were limited and I wasn’t really accomplishing what I wanted to with college.

Fortunately, when I got married, I was able to quit working and attend the University full-time to study what I truly wanted, English & Creative Writing. My ultimate desire was to become an Editor and work in some form of publishing after graduation. Early in my education, I was unsure if my plan was really obtainable. Classes in line with the University’s Publishing Track, however, have helped me understand more about what it would take to be an editor for magazine, anthology, and book publishing.

It’s really an incredible feeling to finally be at this stage and see my dream within reach. Currently, I’m finishing up the Publishing Practicum – a class that provides each student with the opportunity to be an Editor. We’ve read through slush piles together to select winning manuscripts for the 4th Annual Iowa Chapbook Prize. After working in a group to choose winners, each of the nine students in the class selected a winning manuscript, of which we would each be the sole editor. We’ve worked one-on-one with our author to revise and edit the original document, creating a chapbook that the author can be proud of. We set the text in the publishing software and worked with our author to design a cover that we both felt properly represented the content. We have all selected, edited, and designed chapbooks that are currently being printed.

I am the sole Editor who helped an author produce a chapbook that they can proudly present to their friends and family.

Participating in this class has been a surreal experience. I feel I’ve learned so much. One of the final assignments is to submit our cumulative journal of writing assignments that we’ve worked on throughout the semester. A lot of those assignments were the result of reading a chapter in What Editors Do and responding to a prompt in our journals. I’ve been reading through these journal entries, and one of the first prompts was to reflect on the editing process discussed in the text and state what most drew us to editing. For this first prompt I wrote that I was drawn to the idea of helping to make a piece of writing its best version of itself. And that’s what I’ve been able to do through this Chapbook Prize process.

This class has also opened the door to an even greater opportunity for me. I was accepted into The University of Denver’s Publishing Institute this summer. Although they have revised the curriculum to take place in a virtual format, it will still be an amazing opportunity. I look forward to what doors will be opened from there.