Cline’s race is long, but she’s excited to start
By THE CLASS
Katie Cline, 20, grew up in North Carolina from ages 1 to 7, San Antonio, Texas from ages 7 to 17, and Georgia from age 17 to the present. Since she spent the bulk of her childhood in San Antonio, she has fond memories of her life spent there. Cline says its Mexican influence and distinct Tex-Mex culture made the city very special and culturally rich. However, she quickly formed a deep attachment to Columbus and Athens, Ga, the towns she now calls home.
Since she was little, Cline always wanted to attend the stereotypical SEC college. Her first impression of the University of Georgia, with its oak trees, white columns, and football mania, was one of an idealized college ripped right from the scenes of a movie. Georgia was large enough to give her the experience of being a “small fish in a big pond”, with the added benefit of offering in-state tuition; it was exactly what she had always wanted for her college experience.
When she arrived at UGA, she began writing for the Opinions section of the Red & Black Newspaper to help spur her journalistic writing efforts. Cline says that she prefers to use a recorder while interviewing. This allows her to focus on her subject and their conversation rather than focusing on transcribing their every word. Her favorite piece of writing is a Georgia College Press Association award-winning article that she wrote for The Red & Black, titled “Mayday Black Friday.” She enjoyed working on this piece because she valued the creative freedom she had when writing it. Through her love of writing, Cline pursued an English minor and thus encountered an English after 1700 course that she says was the worst class she had ever taken. The professor gave long, expansive lectures in a monotonic voice that left Cline falling asleep, even when seated in the front row.
In addition to her journalistic writing exploits, Cline has a large place in her heart for fictional writing and wishes to work in the publishing industry as an editor. Nick Hornby, who wrote her favorite book, A Long Way Down, is her favorite author. His British personality shine through his writing in his blunt and sarcastic way of incorporating dark humor into his work. Cline says that his writing feels real in this way, even though it is fictional. “The plot is twisted and hilarious,” she says.
When she imagines her life five years from now, Cline says that “the goal is to be at a publishing house.” She thinks a moment and adds, “the overall goal is to be an editor.”
However, Cline admits that becoming an editor takes some time. According to her estimation, one must work as an editorial assistant for three to five years. After clarifying that the publishing house would be working with fictional works, Cline pauses to think. She said she envisions herself perhaps living in an apartment with her boyfriend, but adds that marriage would be a bit soon for that point in her life. Ideally, she wants to be married around the age of 28.
At this stage in life, however, Cline enjoys living in Athens and being a UGA student, particularly for the sense of home she has established here. Cline’s experience at the Oxford study abroad program last Spring inspired an appreciation for adventure and pushing one’s self beyond one’s perceived limits which she believes will hearten her endeavors beyond graduation.
The most meaningful advice Cline has gotten is from an essay written as a hypothetical commencement address by columnist Mary Schmich. The short essay goes deeply into small but meaningful pieces of advice about how to live a happy and deeply moving life. “Wear Sunscreen” as the essay has been nicknamed has gotten her through a variety of tough times since she first read it back in her junior year of high school. Cline has been diagnosed with anxiety and finds that her favorite line in the essay says, “the race is long and in the end, it’s only with yourself.” Many of the short, well written lines from “Wear Sunscreen” have become daily mantras for her.