Dear Future Copy Editor,

Have you ever sent an email to a teacher that is perfectly worded and very polite and you get a response of “k – sent from my iPad”? Are you familiar with the little pang you feel in your heart when that happens? Alternatively, have you ever worked on a group project where everyone does their part and it turned out good? Are you familiar with the sense of pride you feel when your work has amounted to something better? Your friendly neighborhood copy editor (that’s me) walks the line between these two feelings all the time. 

When it comes to Newspaper, I always try to leave comprehensible comments and try to be consistent on rubrics, but often I’m wrong (I just so happen to be human.). Sometimes I’m in a bad mood and it’s 1:00 a.m. so I leave sassy comments on articles because at the same time I am so afraid that if I don’t get edits done I will inconvenience the writers or other editors. I work hard, I try to do things well, and when it goes badly, I am inconsolable. I remember these moments where I mess up and my friends hear about it for weeks. Shoutout to my girls (and boys, specifically Nathan Pisney, I’m very sorry for annoying you every Sunday) for listening to me.

I have this wonderful quality of remembering all the bad things and breezing by the good and you, my dear future copy editor, need to focus on the good if you are going to thrive in this position. Give those compliments, don’t have a panic attack about italics. Appreciate that feedback, don’t only think about that one comment for the next seven years. When the going gets tough and you lose the most important events of your high school career to COVID-19, look back on your favorite memories i.e. Nick Gandison, the agenda, For Lease Navidad, whey-face, Orange Leaf, Perkins, a dead deer, TTAC, jimothy, an eight mile walk and every other magical moment.

Being a copy editor was the perfect job for me and I hope it’s the perfect job for you. There have been two, then one, then three and now two copy editors during my time on the Xpress and I have loved every minute of it and I hope you can appreciate it like I do.

Yours truly,

Penelope Rose Abattoir Gardner a.k.a Pheppla, Penolpolis, Miss P, Penelopope, Papoli, Peen, Rat, Peen the Rat, Peenerlorpe, Peplup, Whey-Face, Wench