Spring Break
women's history month
Winding career takes Aggie to top of Times
By: Teri Ruland
Issue date: 3/30/09 Section: News
Sometimes life's roads are taken by choice; sometimes destiny, but for Kathleen McElroy, Class of 1981, the road she followed was accidental.
McElroy, originally from Houston, Texas, ended up at the New York Times 10 years after studying broadcast journalism at Texas A&M.
"It wasn't my intention when I was at A&M to end up being at the Times. I wanted to be a sportscaster, but here I am," she said as she laughed aloud.
Sometimes the love for the game can't always be followed. Her admiration for sports, however, led her to where she is today.
"I'd wanted to be in sports since I was in the fourth grade; I just had no athletic ability," she said.
Though sports was her true love and her desire, chasing the dream and covering the Olympics was not the easiest, she said.
"I just worked 19 hours of 24 and you really don't get to see all the things you want to see. It's a different thing being a sports fan and working in sports. If you like sports, you will spend time doing things you don't enjoy more than things you do enjoy," she said.
She worked at the Times as an on-site editor in the 1996 Atlanta and 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. Before her time at the Times, she was a copy editor, along with slot editor for Newsday. She also worked at The National.
"[The National was] in a building and it was 666 Fifth Ave. Maybe being from the south, 666 is not a good sign, but everybody went out on expensive lunches," McElroy said. "It was a big, expensive, all-star staff and people would go on big expensive lunches and apparently we spent $150M in 18 months and went out of business, so that was fun. It was loony, but it was fun."
Her road to New York, she described, was full of education from previous co-workers and towns she had worked in.
"I am just so lucky that I have been surrounded by really good, nurturing people so I learned a little bit of something everywhere. You come into a place with a sum of all your other experiences," she said.
McElroy, originally from Houston, Texas, ended up at the New York Times 10 years after studying broadcast journalism at Texas A&M.
"It wasn't my intention when I was at A&M to end up being at the Times. I wanted to be a sportscaster, but here I am," she said as she laughed aloud.
Sometimes the love for the game can't always be followed. Her admiration for sports, however, led her to where she is today.
"I'd wanted to be in sports since I was in the fourth grade; I just had no athletic ability," she said.
Though sports was her true love and her desire, chasing the dream and covering the Olympics was not the easiest, she said.
"I just worked 19 hours of 24 and you really don't get to see all the things you want to see. It's a different thing being a sports fan and working in sports. If you like sports, you will spend time doing things you don't enjoy more than things you do enjoy," she said.
She worked at the Times as an on-site editor in the 1996 Atlanta and 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. Before her time at the Times, she was a copy editor, along with slot editor for Newsday. She also worked at The National.
"[The National was] in a building and it was 666 Fifth Ave. Maybe being from the south, 666 is not a good sign, but everybody went out on expensive lunches," McElroy said. "It was a big, expensive, all-star staff and people would go on big expensive lunches and apparently we spent $150M in 18 months and went out of business, so that was fun. It was loony, but it was fun."
Her road to New York, she described, was full of education from previous co-workers and towns she had worked in.
"I am just so lucky that I have been surrounded by really good, nurturing people so I learned a little bit of something everywhere. You come into a place with a sum of all your other experiences," she said.
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