{"id":134153,"date":"2021-08-12T09:23:39","date_gmt":"2021-08-12T15:23:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=134153"},"modified":"2022-09-20T14:54:10","modified_gmt":"2022-09-20T20:54:10","slug":"katherine-latona-18-life-has-a-way-of-working-itself-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=134153","title":{"rendered":"Following a winding path | Katherine Latona \u201918"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"
\u201cYou have to open yourself to being surprised by life, and being surprised by yourself and what you\u2019re capable of,\u201d says Katherine Latona \u201918, who followed a winding path before becoming an archivist for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

There are times in life when our plans seem inevitable. We expect everything to go a certain way \u2014 but then it all changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For UCCS alumna Katherine Latona \u201918, life after graduation didn\u2019t go as planned. Instead, she was reminded to show up as her best self and to allow life to simply fall into place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After graduating from UCCS in 2018, Latona was gifted the trip of a lifetime from her mother: tickets to visit the art district in Melbourne, Australia. Latona, an Arts History major, was more than delighted and ready for the trip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once she returned home, full of inspiration and empowered by her travels, Latona felt ready to start her career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI certainly was ready, but didn\u2019t expect the job hunt to be so challenging,\u201d said Latona. \u201cI applied to many jobs and wasn\u2019t hearing back or wasn\u2019t selected for a second interview.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While that experience discouraged her, it also opened her to other job possibilities \u2014 even some that were outside of her comfort zone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI started working as a car salesman,\u201d said Latona. \u201cThis was so different and not something I ever saw myself doing, but I learned so much. I will tell you, taking that job reminded me it is all part of the journey.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, Latona knew she would begin her search for a career within the arts, and an opportunity finally presented itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA classmate of mine recommended I apply for a contract-based position with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee,\u201d said Latona. \u201cThe role was still being fleshed out, but I was interested in the organization, and thought this could be something I see myself being a part of.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Latona didn\u2019t know was she would be the lead for identifying, classifying and preparing archived artifacts for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee. Some of selections she made would even be displayed at the U.S. Olympic Museum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll of it was quite fascinating to me,\u201d said Latona. \u201cMy love for the arts has always been because of the stories we can learn. And Olympic artifacts all tell a story. I was honored to play a key role in identifying pieces for the Olympic Museum so others could learn about the Games\u2019 rich history.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Some of Latona\u2019s archival selections are now on display in the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museum, including Olympic torches and medals from each of the Games. Photo credit: U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Outside of preparing pieces for the Olympic Museum, Latona\u2019s work involves a variety of tasks. She takes photos of each artifact, tags it for specific collections, and writes a detailed description of the piece as if describing the item to someone who can\u2019t see it. Much of her job also involves ensuring that all of the items in private collections are captured within the organization\u2019s database.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA day in my life means I have a camera and I am taking pictures, I am sometimes writing, I am logging and spanning through artifacts,\u201d said Latona. \u201cIt is such a thrill. We have incredible artifacts like old Olympic equipment, and my job as one of the archivists means I play a significant role in recording the history of it all \u2014 what it looks like, any dents or scratches, that sort of thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Latona\u2019s role, while originally contract-based, has now become a permanent position, and she knows she is in the right place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is the perfect job,\u201d said Latona. \u201cI never imagined I would be working for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, but I love it. The job is a perfect blend of my passion for the arts and the stories behind it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Latona contributes much of her success and determination to the support she received while at UCCS and from being a scholarship recipient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was awarded both the Karen Possehl Women\u2019s Endowment and Reisher scholarships,\u201d Latona said. \u201cBoth taught me about having character and being resilient.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, with a career that is truly fulfilling, and having reflected on the unplanned roads of life, Latona knows she is right where she\u2019s supposed to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou have to open yourself to being surprised by life, and being surprised by yourself and what you\u2019re capable of,\u201d Latona concluded. \u201cWhat will never be taken away from you is the kind of person you are and the impression you give, so show up as your most confident self and be ready for what life puts in front of you.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are times in life when our plans seem inevitable. We expect everything to go a certain way \u2014 but then it all changes. For Katherine Latona, an Arts History alumna, life after graduation didn’t go as planned. But Latona landed on her feet, and is now an archivist for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee. (More)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":134155,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1,427,45],"tags":[370,107,369,86,102],"class_list":["post-134153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-alumni-stories","category-arts-and-culture","tag-alumni","tag-alumni-relations","tag-alumni-success","tag-college-of-letters-arts-and-sciences","tag-visual-and-performing-arts-department"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Communique-Banner-700x526-6.png","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1mBpJ-yTL","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=134153"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134153\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":142758,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134153\/revisions\/142758"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/134155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=134153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=134153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=134153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}