word of mouth

Last fall, during my cleaning, my very nice dental hygienist asked what I do for work. When I said I work for the University of Kentucky Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, she said her daughter is an alumna of our merchandising, apparel and textiles program. 

“I could write an alumna profile about her!” I said. 

I left my appointment with a new toothbrush and a sticky note with her daughter’s name, Katelyn Eubank, on it. I later connected with and interviewed Katelyn, as well as one of her mentors from the college. 

My story about Katelyn came out this week, as part of our National Agriculture Week storytelling campaign. (I also recently wrote about a current merchandising student who runs his own upcycling business, and I think it became a really great story.)

I happily told my coworkers that I’d found a story idea in an unexpected place. I try to teach my journalism students to always be on the lookout for great story ideas—though I have to give far more credit to my dental hygienist than to myself. I’ve gotten ideas for my writing from a lecture in my Kentucky history class and from a book about a long-dead horse and from a column I was proofreading for the Kernel. 

I often say to my students that if they take anything away from my class, I hope it’s to be more curious. Not just so that, as writers, they can find wonderful and original story ideas, but also so that, as people, they will learn new things and notice surprising details. 

Even at the dentist.