By Audrey Gibson
What do a
journalist and a volleyball player have in common? A glimpse into the life of
Emma Pettit can answer this question.
“I think sports
and journalism are so similar,” Pettit says. “It makes sense to me why I was
drawn to both.”
Pettit graduated
from Villanova in 2016 as an accomplished athlete, student, and aspiring
journalist. As a member of the women’s volleyball team, Pettit played in 121
matches and 419 sets during her career at Villanova, setting the record for the
third most assists in the program’s history. However, her talents were not
limited to the court.
“She was a
terrific writer,” says Megan Quigley, one of Pettit’s former English professors
at Villanova. “I still use one of her essays as an example for my students
today.”
Off the court,
Pettit worked as a tutor at the writing center and wrote for The Villanovan, Villanova’s student
newspaper. Finding her place in the newsroom, Pettit interned at Philadelphia Magazine and The Greeley Tribune, a newspaper in her
home state of Colorado.
The summer after
graduating from Villanova, Pettit began an internship at The Chronicle of Higher Education, a publication she says she had been
drawn to in the lobby of Villanova’s writing center. Pettit remembers reading The Chronicle as she waited for her
tutoring sessions to begin, captivated by the eloquent and fluid writing.
After finishing
her internship at The Chronicle,
Pettit secured a position at the Arkansas
Democrat-Gazette as a reporter on county government affairs. In July of
2018, Pettit returned to The Chronicle,
where she currently works as a beat reporter on the civic and professional
lives of professors.
“I love
character-driven narratives,” Pettit says, explaining how her beat developed.
“I love quirky stories.”
According to
Pettit, she does not have an average day at The
Chronicle. However, her daily tasks usually involve some combination of
writing stories, scheduling interviews, connecting with people on her beat, and
checking assignments off of the miniature chalkboard to-do list she keeps on
her desk – her office trademark.
While Pettit has
traded the volleyball court for the newsroom, she says she still uses many of
the skills she gained as an athlete in her position as a reporter.
“What I learned
with volleyball is that you can prepare as much as you can, but when it comes
to playing in a game, it’s equal parts preparation and instinct,” Pettit says.
“As a journalist, that’s what makes the best interviews.”
Pettit says her
experiences playing volleyball also impacted her attitudes towards success and
failure, which she has carried with her into the field of journalism.
“With volleyball
or any sport, you can revel in your victory for a night or feel bad about a
loss, but then you have to move on,” Pettit says. “When you’re writing so many
stories as a journalist, you might hit a homerun, or you might not. But the
next day, you have to move on to the next task. You can’t wallow, and you can’t
get a big head.”
In addition to
her experiences as an athlete, Pettit says her liberal arts education at
Villanova provided a strong foundation for her career as a reporter by fostering
her critical thinking skills. While Pettit says she was initially overwhelmed
by the philosophy, ethics, and ACS course requirements, she found these courses
to be some of the most rewarding at Villanova.
Pettit, who
majored in English, attributes her growth as a writer to the English
Department’s courses and professors.
“They helped me
get straight to the point and make my point much more forcefully than I was
used to,” Pettit says. “That’s how I write now at The Chronicle.”
Pettit says she
first learned how to listen to criticism of her writing during workshops in
Professor Alan Drew’s creative writing course. According to Pettit, learning
how to distance herself from her work has been invaluable to her career as a
journalist.
Quigley, who
taught two of Pettit’s English courses at Villanova, says the English
Department aims to diversify students’ skills as writers.
“I think we try
to teach a bunch of different kinds of writing,” Quigley says. “We’ll do
informal writing, like journals or diaries or blogs, and we’ll do
five-paragraph thesis-driven essays. You need to be able to do all of the
above.”
Working at The Chronicle, Pettit continues to
receive advice about how to become a better writer and reporter.
“My very first
editor told me, ‘Always get the name of the dog,’” Pettit says. “He meant that
when you’re at a scene and you’re writing about the place and the people there,
it’s not enough to write that there was a dog. Extend yourself to ask the name
of the dog. Specificity is the soul of narrative.”
With several
accomplishments under her belt, Pettit has her own advice to give, too.
“As much as
people want to think about writing and talk about writing, at the end of the
day, you have to meet a deadline,” Pettit says. “You just have to make it as
good as possible and do that again and again and again. Eventually those
muscles will grow, and those tools will sharpen. Really good writing comes from
a lot of not good writing.”
While Pettit may
not be strengthening the same muscles she once did on the volleyball court, she
has not forgotten the valuable skills she developed as an athlete. During her
time on Villanova’s campus, Pettit allowed her talents to flourish inside and
outside of the classroom. Now, as a reporter for The Chronicle, Pettit is using her talents to share the stories of
students and professors on college campuses across the country.
Q&A with
Emma Pettit
Q: What
is your favorite part about your job?
A: “I am
really privileged to talk to the people I get to talk to. A lot of the time, I
get to talk to really smart, thoughtful people about their niche interests and
about things they have been studying and learning about for years. My
conversations are really delightful. That feels like a really great gift.”
Q: How
would you describe your job in three words?
A:
“Invigorating. Collaborative. Tough.”
