A gift

Farideh Dada, Khalida DuBose and Joyce Tse.

After the weekend, I feel like “Khalida, you’ve done it again.” What I mean is that I’ve managed to fall into the universe’s favor. I know this because I’ve just spent the most amazing days with the most amazing people.

I met Lina Hashem, another Muslim woman who is a 1999 alum of the program and a copy editor. She answered many questions that never would have been answered if I weren’t in this program.

Besides the wonderful people, I’ve received the best gift a young journalist could dream of -- a writing coach. Mary Ann Hogan (Ma, as people affectionately call her) is going to be honest with me, help me during the tough times and, most importantly, she’s just going to be there. Knowing that there is one person to support me makes all the difference in how I’ll do in this internship.

-- Khalida DuBose, Colorado State University-Pueblo, Fort Collins Coloradoan