Who says journalism is no fun?

Covering the court beat means writing a lot of sad stories, so many that co-workers often ask, "How can you stand it?"  It's true, I chronicle human misery on a daily basis and sometimes find it hard to let go after I shut down my computer for the day.

What keeps me coming to work, besides the biweekly paycheck, is that now and then being a reporter is so much fun it doesn't seem like a job.

The year 2015 brought a couple of "I can't believe I get paid for this" moments for which I'm grateful.

During the summer, I interviewed five women for a series on Women in Law Enforcement. Day Photographer Dana Jensen took fabulous pictures. Though I knew some of the lady cops from court cases, this technically wasn't a court story. Wandering off the docket was a nice break. The women were funny, kind, strong, insightful and, above all, professional. While we immensely enjoyed ourselves, the story had news value. We showed our readers that women are thriving in a field traditionally dominated by males.

My second favorite on-the-job event of the year was the April afternoon when UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma, fresh off the team's third straight national championship win, walked into a roomful of state judges and announced he was running for president.  

Sorry, but Geno is not actually running for president. He was humoring a request from the Judicial Media Committee to appear at the Journalism School for Judges training seminar and announce "something big" at a mock press conference. The judges, playing the role of TV and print reporters, dove right in with questions about Geno's platform, running mate and politics. Then, with the help of the real journalists in the room, the judges produced their own (mock) news stories. It was a fun afternoon, and the judges got a taste of what it's like to produce news stories on the fly.

The job of a journalist entails much more than writing fun feature stories and organizing celebrity seminars. But as the year comes to a close, those are the moments I choose to savor.

I'll see you on the court beat in 2016.