I wasn’t in the office on my first day more than five minutes before my tie came off. As I was introduced to my casually dressed coworkers throughout the workspace, my already moderate anxiety leaped toward a full-on panic attack. My perfectly ironed slacks, spotless white dress shirt and (quite fashionable, I should say) Brooks Brothers tie made me stick out like a sore, and rather embarrassed, thumb. After more than one decidedly good-natured chuckle graced my coworker’s lips, my boss pointed to the painstakingly tied Windsor knot around my neck. “Let’s drop the tie, Chris. We’re pretty laid back about the dress code around here.” The slight wardrobe change made a significant difference in my comfort and relaxation, and began the start of a pleasurable, exciting day, but the flak-taking wasn’t quite through yet. As my boss sauntered away, a coworker, his face filled with a friendly yet mischievous grin, quipped, “Well, what are you gonna wear tomorrow, a tuxedo?”

I guess a quick introduction is in order. I’m Chris Wright, a (soon-to-be) senior undergrad student at PSU studying History and minoring in English. I pursued my current internship, an editing position at Fly Fisherman Magazine in Harrisburg, PA, with particular zeal because it combined not only two things I enjoy (editing and fly fishing), but also could, I hoped, give me great insight into a possible career field. As I anticipated, the job is definitely affecting how I view my future career and education plans. But more on that later in future blog posts, perhaps.

My memorable first morning at Fly Fisherman Magazine is a perfect example of one of my favorite aspects of the job so far: a relaxed environment, which allows me to expand my skills and learn new things without fear of excessive pressures or burdens. Editing at the magazine presents tens, and often even hundreds of opportunities to misstep in each article I tweak and pore over; however, lacking a fear of failure, I am able to boldly make decisions, gaining confidence when I succeed, and building upon my editing skill set when I go astray. My boss–Ross Purnell–and all of my coworkers are always ready to answer my questions and give kind, insightful advice. In short, I’ve been dropped into the deep end, but with some pretty big arm-floaties, and maybe even an inner tube, if that helps the metaphor.

On top of my editing work for the magazine’s next issue, I’ve been working on gathering and editing articles from the past ten years of the magazine’s “Seasonable Angler” column (short stories and essays) to put into a “best of” anthology book. Having a large amount of control over what goes into the collection is certainly a thrill, and I’ve been having a lot of fun choosing my favorites and getting in touch with their authors in order to renew contracts.

Speaking of fun, an exceptionally unique part of my internship has been learning the art of fly tying. Later in the summer I’ll be editing a second collection–this one the magazine’s “Fly Tier’s Bench.” Because I’ll need some specific knowledge, Ross has set out to make me fly-tying literate–a process that’s been surprisingly enjoyable, and has provided refreshing periods between some mentally challenging editing work.

I’ll keep you updated on how everything turns out, and end today’s blog with a somewhat pertinent quote by fly-fishing writer Alfred W. Miller: “If fishing is interfering with your business, give up your business.” It is my pleasure to avoid this problem entirely.