Time passes strangely for me, and I often forget how much I’ve changed. The past is a single point, a tangled ball of roughly organized moments. But I can clearly sort out just how important Newspaper and Podcasting have been for me over the years.
I forecasted for Newspaper at the advice of my Spanish 3/4 classmate Val. I think that choice saved sophomore year for me. I did not end freshman year well, to put it mildly, and I was considering transferring to a different school if I didn’t end the first semester well.
My first year in Newspaper was kind of terrifying. I barely knew anyone in the class, and I had no journalistic experience. I decided to be an artist, so that I didn’t have to worry about writing. It went well enough, I made new friends, I somehow managed to write a somewhat cohesive storyline for my comic, I designed the first official logo for the newspaper, and I definitely wanted to continue with the class. I got nasty art block for most of junior year, but I felt much more comfortable in the space.
Podcasting was less scary. The groups I was in for my first year of Podcasting were great, and I had the ability to create my magnum opus: Jeopardy II, which I have continued running for the past three years. Working on the Reviewinator with Chaos during my junior year was a great experience, and I know that Thurston is the right person to pass it on to. I also can’t wait to hear what Davidé, Tucker and Jonas continue to work on, and I hope that Will, London and David don’t take as long as I do to edit their podcasts.
Having a leadership role this year has felt strange. I still feel as though I know so little about running a publication, the editing cycle, what button does which in Adobe Audition, how to fix the settings on the mixer, how to CMYK an image and so much more. That doesn’t mean I haven’t tried to be helpful, or pointed people to the person who can actually help them. Ricardo and Veda have been great leaders, and I’m sure that Emmie, Opal, Brylee and Sam will be much more prepared for next year than I was for this one, or least they’ll be able to fake it about as well as I have.
