Fourth Post- 7 June 2024

I have spent the week copy editing my article. Dr. Lester was out in a conference this week, so we did not meet in person. We did, however, check up over email to ensure that things were going well and that I was making progress. I have found that I have settled into the rhythm of the internship quite comfortably. Historically, I have always been someone who works in large chunks of productivity instead of steadily chipping away at big assignments. For this one, however, I feel I have a much better long term grasp on it than I would for an ordinary research paper or copy editing assignment for school. Hopefully this has taught me a long-term lesson about professionalism and time management, one which I have been learning very slowly for several years!

Reading the article more closely has taught me a great deal about Florida's agricultural history, and about Floridian history in general. The topic my assigned article is covering covers many decades of the 20th century, so every time I read through it I feel as if I am going on a journey through history. So much changed in these early decades of the 20th century, in Florida in particular, that it becomes staggering to imagine what it was like to experience these changes in real time. The way that these ordinary people reacted to and made the best of these drastic changes is absolutely fascinating to read and reread about, and the experience is reminding why I came to love history in the first place. It is amazing to realize how difficult life was for ordinary people in the past and inspiring to learn about the industrious ways that they developed to continue to survive is nothing short of inspiring.

Editing has led me to ask important questions about my own writing. Though I was taught never to use passive voice in an academic context, I have found that sometimes in the instances in which this does occur, I cannot always change it, as I do not want to change the authorial voice and my restructuring sometimes comes out looking clunkier than the original passage would have been. I am continuing to work steadily and I hope to have the article totally copy edited by next week.