Katie Couric pursued a job in journalism directly after graduating from the University of Virginia in 1979 with a bachelor's degree in American studies. Her first job on television was for ABC, which she found exciting. As she later recalled to the Washingtonian, her first day on the job was nearly unbelievable, with legendary reporter and anchor Sam Donaldson "grabbing me on my first day and whisking me to the White House to watch a briefing."
However, Couric also says, per the Washingtonian, that not everything about the job was perfect, and the tough hours made her contemplate leaving television altogether. As she explained, "I'd work 11 to 7 one day, 3 to 11 the next day, I'd work the overnight, and I worried it was a dead-end job."
After ABC, Couric moved on to a role at a CBS affiliate in Miami, Florida. In an interview with the Television Academy Foundation, Couric revealed how her first attempt at anchoring actually happened while in Miami. She explained, "It wasn't that I necessarily had aspirations to be an anchor, but I thought the more skills I had, the more marketable I would be." While the experience didn't go quite as well as she hoped, Couric did move on to work at CNN soon after.
