I got my first job in journalism through the cooperative education program at Northeastern University in Boston after I completed my freshman year. I worked for six months as a dictationist for United Press International in Washington, D.C. Dictationists typed stories word by word that reporters called in. This, of course, was before the Internet became a mainstream means of communication, and laptop computers.

After my internship, I didn't want to go back to college, so I got married (Kids, I mean it! Don't try this at home!). I moved to Bridgeport, Conn., and walked into the newspaper office of the then-Bridgeport Post and Telegram and was hired on the spot as an obituary writer.

I worked on the Post and Telegram (then they were two separate papers; the Post published in the afternoon; the Telegram in the morning. The publication is now called the Connecticut Post) for nine years. During this time, I covered a variety of beats and gathered hundreds of clips. Most importantly, I gained experience that can't come from a classroom and started making contacts with other journalists to build the impressive network I have today.

But after several years (and, not coincidentally, after my marriage broke up), it became clear to me that my lack of formal education beyond high school was keeping me from getting a better job. So I went back to college, while continuing to work full time as a reporter. The last four semesters, I was a fulltime student while working full time as a reporter. I would get up at 8 a.m., go to classes until 1:45 p.m., then work from 2 p.m. until 10 p.m. On weekends, I would go to the library and study from noon to 6 p.m. It was tough, but worth it. In May 1981, I received a bachelor's degree in English from Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn. The next month, I entered the Editing Program for Minority Journalists conducted by the Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education in Oakland, Calif. I spent two months learning the craft of copy editing at the University of Arizona at Tucson. In August, I started working as a copy editor on the universal desk of the Birmingham Post-Herald in Alabama.

Things started to click for me. I had a large network of colleagues, and as a result of that and my good work, I regularly received invitations to apply for jobs. After 20 months in Birmingham, I got a job on the copy desk of the now-defunct Dallas Times Herald in Texas.

I joined The Sun in Baltimore in 1984 as a copy editor on the features desk. Since then, I have worked as a copy editor and layout editor in sports, business, metro and national/foreign sections. I have also been a staff writer and assistant features editor.

Beginning around 1983, I got interested in computers and the Internet. My first computer was a Commodore 64, and I connected to the Internet via an early incarnation of America Online. I starting buying and working with computers at home, and taught myself DOS, Windows, dialup (how many remember AT/DT?) and word processing. As personal computers moved into the business world and the mainstream, I was far ahead of most of my co-workers. People came to me for training and advice on computing.

In 1999, my computer skills got me a job as assistant systems editor at The Sun. I still work in the newsroom, but I am among the people responsible for keeping the computers running, troubleshooting, training, configuring and disbursing the company laptops.

I am a member the National Association of Black Journalists. Now that I have achieved the status of senior journalist, I enjoy guiding young people in the field. I participate in job fairs and career counseling and mentoring programs locally. I do this because I believe in giving back, and because I muddled through this profession in the first decade of my career with no guidance. As a result, I made a lot of mistakes, many of which might have been avoided if there had been someone like me (that is, a black woman) who had been there, done that, and knew what it was like.

Want career advice? Want to give me career advice? Want to offer me a job? Send me e-mail!

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