the new job so far

so i've now worked at law360 for two whole days. i like it so far, but i think my blood pressure might suffer if i don't get used to the frazzled, fast pace soon.

my first day was full of learning. i had to learn the programs we use and sat in on my first of several meetings explaining the kind of stories we cover. i learned about intellectual property law on thursday...i think i will learn more facts in the next week than i have since college. anyway, in the midst of the learning, i was assigned two stories. one i researched and wrote pretty effortlessly, almost too easily. the other story didn't pan out, since i didn't have a enough time to sort out and confirm all the facts. i was assigned another story, but again i couldn't close the deal. i ended up filing the latter story on friday.

i learned friday that i had gotten the one major fact i had reported on wrong. this was in the first story i filed on thursday. how completely embarassing and also jeopardizing to my reputation and job? i felt like a failure. happily, my boss was no angry. he was actually surprisingly nice to me about it. i think i was a heady first day mistake, and i don't intend to make another mistake again.

on friday i filed three more stories, feeling a little more confident in my reporting and writing abilities. however, from the time when i get assigned stories (around 10 a.m.) to the point when i file them to my editor, my heart is racing, i'm sweaty and shaky and my mind is all over the place. i'm used to having so much free time during the day, that i'm not used this feeling that i'm not doing something. i feel guilty checking my email!

i'm hoping this freaking out feeling will go away as i get used to the fast pace of the day, and stop worrying that i'm making mistakes or forgetting something! think about it, if i file a story at 4:30 and my editor has a question that i'm not able to answer and can't answer because its so late in the day, that falls on my head. you know?? ahh!!

anyway, that being said, i still would rather feel useful and productive than the opposite. i can see that i'm already learning a ton here, and i'm becoming a great reporter just in the process of doing the job.

so that's where i am right now. i'll send more when i feel more confident. until then, if you want to read my stuff, i'll have to send it to you individually because if you go on the site you have to pay to see the whole articles. i've written about some cool stuff so far.