I have become very acquainted with the word \u201cdeadline.\u201d<\/p>\n
I’ve learned that its first four letters are an understatement.<\/p>\n
This year, sometimes being dead sounded more pleasant than striving to make deadline.<\/p>\n
I didn’t plan on this, you know. I expected to be normal . An average college freshman, with feasible responsibilities. Perhaps a student reporter that turned in stories and then went to the movies. Maybe someone that didn’t have 90 people on her mind at the same time right before she rests her head on the pillow\u2014and then gets a call from a staff member for help at 2:21 a.m.<\/p>\n
I\u00a0 thought I\u2019d cover one campus\u2014but I thought wrong. I was slammed with seven more.<\/p>\n
The Reporter newsroom\u2014where black coffee runs strong and creamer is non-existent\u2014has become my home. However, everyone knows \u201chome\u201d comes with both comfort and chaos.<\/p>\n
Luckily, my hair is still partially there. I\u2019m taking biotin because I\u2019m shedding from stress, but hey, at least I can say I\u2019ve seen it all.<\/p>\n
In one year I\u2019ve seen four staff members exchange clothing with a colleague\u2014from shoes to pants to blouse to jewelry\u2014because the reporter had an unexpected interview with a city commissioner, and she had sweatpants on that day.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve seen photographers roll in mud and chase fires just to get that perfect shot.<\/p>\n
Ive gotten yelled at by high-profile individuals, had the opportunity to dig up criminal records and have gotten doors slammed in my face.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve witnessed editors interview famous musicians such as Bizzy Bone, 50 Cent and Iggy Pop, and seen reporters shoot video from an airplane.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve had people offer me a clementine, rather than an orange, and have gotten chastised for not knowing the difference.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve seen the staff invest blood, sacrifice showers, skip meals and go delirious after 24 hours of not sleeping.<\/p>\n
Here, not only have I learned about journalism and reporting, but I\u2019ve learned about others and myself. I\u2019ve been pushed and shoved into really getting to know what I\u2019m capable of.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve earned a family here. A union that is unbreakable, with the same goal\u2014 to produce a paper that will inform. And being part of that first family fuels me to be more passionate about what I do.<\/p>\n
In one year, I\u2019ve been blessed to lead a staff that has tested my patience, made me break down in tears, engraved a smile on my face yet still manages to make me whisper at the end of each day: \u201cit was all worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Being editor-in-chief has opened my eyes to what things are really about. I\u2019ve learned that no one is going to care about my skyrocketing GPA, or the amount of clubs I join, or the billions of organizations I claim to contribute to.<\/p>\n
What does matter to me is knowing that immersing myself in The Reporter has made me a better me\u2014 exercising my passion, commitment and giving me the chance to experience the violent, intense field of journalism.<\/p>\n
Although I don\u2019t have all the answers, The Reporter has armed me with the confidence and the heart to ask all the questions\u2014especially the tough ones.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I have become very acquainted with the word \u201cdeadline.\u201d I’ve learned that its first four letters are an understatement. This year, sometimes being dead sounded more pleasant than striving to make deadline. I didn’t plan on this, you know. I expected to be normal . An average college freshman, with feasible responsibilities. Perhaps a student […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":315,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-6718","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-news"},"yoast_head":"\n