On surprises and the Pommel Horse beat: Reflections on my Living/Arts co-op at the Boston Globe

“Hey Emily! It’s Ethan Slater” was not a message I ever thought I’d received.

I’m a theater person from Jersey. And now SpongeBob is texting me. 

It was a few weeks into my Living/Arts co-op at The Boston Globe and I had found out that Slater was one of the writers of a new workshop about Marcel Marceau being mounted in western Mass. I said to my editor — the brilliant Veronica Chao — “any chance I can write this?” 500 words later and I officially thought I had the coolest job ever. 

Frankly, I stand by that. I’m writing this — on the final days where my badge will work at the office — from my parent’s home in New Jersey, where I’m spending the remote work week (and looking forward to our annual New Year’s Eve family party). It’s hard to believe how much has changed in six months, and how much I’ve grown professionally. And yet here we are.

Luckily, this isn’t my “goodbye” post; it’s my goodbye to co-op, hello to the Metro desk, where I’ll be covering nights and weekend shifts as a messenger, and a “hey again” to my Living/Arts editors, who I’ll be freelancing for once I return to Boston.

Before I started the co-op, BU’s journalism department asked me to film a TikTok promoting the co-op, and I was asked “what would you say to yourself a year from now?” My response was: “I hope that you got some really good stories and pursued things you didn’t think you would while you were at the Globe.”

I can safely say I did that.

I wrote the Globe’s fourth-most-read digital story of the year: A quick hit about Tom Brady putting Fleetwood Mac lyrics on his Instagram story. The piece solicited many funny emails from readers and over 154,000 page visits. I’m honored to have topped the Globe’s charts.

My favorite story was a piece about two Boston-based content creators who made it big on TikTok in the past few years. The pair, Tommy Guarino and Chad McDonough, are East Boston natives with stories that inspire me to this day. They took hours out of their weeks to talk with me about their lives, and when the piece came out on Election Day, it stayed near the top of the Globe’s charts. The experience taught me that good stories can be found anywhere — and that if you show empathy and ask the right questions, people put their trust in you. That trust is priceless. I'm honored to have written it for Chris Morris, who is the kindest person I've ever met (and everything she edits turns to gold). 

Honorable mention: I interviewed Magdalena Bay, a pop group that has been on the rise the past few years ahead of their tour stopping in Boston. My partner is a really big fan; it was surreal. 

I also found myself on an unexpected beat. After the summer Olympics, gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik went viral for his pommel horse prowess, his glasses, and his sweet personality. The Worcester native then took on “Dancing with the Stars” and advanced to the finale. I wrote a weekly recap of his — and fellow olympian Ilona Maher and former Patriots star Danny Amendola’s — performances on the show, and ultimately got to interview the man himself. We talked about "DWTS," yes, but also his obsession with serial killer podcasts and how he’s now “washed” (his words) in Rocket League. Thanks to my genius editor Lisa Weidenfeld, I learned how to ask the right questions in a celebrity interview — and have a lot of fun with it!

And of course, we can't forget Boston at a Bargain. Being able to say I wrote a column in the Boston Globe remains surreal. I'm so grateful to Rachel Razcka for helping me workshop this relatively new column throughout my co-op, and for helping me find the right voice for it. It's now featured in the Globe's Starting Point newsletter, which is distributed to 30,000+ readers (and I learned at my roommate's magazine launch that it's reaching college students, which makes me happier than I can ever say).   

Working for the Globe has made me an infinitely stronger writer, but it has also equipped me with skills I haven’t learned in school. I now feel I can call myself a “media professional.” I shot Instagram Reels — including a recap places some hit movies filmed in Boston and a look at Matt Damon’s first pitch at Fenway Park in July — created daily Instagram graphics and Tweets, and built two weekly newsletters in SalesForce (and even learned a smidge HTML code for them). I got to go on the Globe’s TV show “Boston Globe Today” to talk about Snowport returning to Boston’s seaport district, where I bonded over New Jersey with our host. I want to extend all my gratitude to Matt Juul for teaching me everything digital, all his SEO wizardry, and how to write a good quick hit.

So yes, coolest job ever. Coolest stories I’ve ever gotten to tell, coolest people to work with, coolest experience. I am so grateful to all my editors — Veronica, Chris, Brooke Hauser, Rachel, Lisa, and Matt — for all they’ve taught me. This gig has made me an infinitely better writer, reporter, and professional. On a personal level, this job and these six months have been a dream come true; I couldn't have asked for a better first full-time experience. I can cook chicken now, which is arguably the biggest victory of all! 

I’ll be back in Boston in a few weeks to continue my work and studies. I can't wait to take all I've learned into this next chapter — and hopefully, continue to surprise myself with the stories I get to tell.