Last night at 2:01 a.m., my phone rang. It was Aimee, the new Collegian editor-in-chief, calling to ask how to send the finished file of the first issue of the year to the printer. It was 3 a.m. for her. I happily took her call; on my first night in her role, I left the journalism lab sometime after 4 a.m., having shed many tears of frustration (tears of any sort being a rarity for me) and made a 3 a.m. trip to Walmart for data discs.
But since time's passage has glazed over the misery of that night (and maybe I had a little bit of seasoned satisfaction with a twinge of schadenfreude at taking that call from my removed position and going right back to sleep), today I've been fondly remembering my two years as the Collegian's editor-in-chief.
When I graduated, I felt more or less satisfied to leave the Collegian behind me. Two years was an appropriate tenure as EIC. It took me at least a semester to get the hang of things and it wasn't until the final semester than I got weary, which gave me a solid year of competent, solid, enthusiastic leadership. I wish Aimee had two years to do the job, because quite frankly I think she has better drive behind her vision for the organization.
In that first year I developed what I believe are some kickass organizational management skills, but I am not a visionary--I am an innovator. My contribution to the betterment of the Collegian was more in the organization than the product. I improved and streamlined processes -- and in turn produced a more consistent quality of newspaper. Management was more interesting and fulfilling for me than journalism from the beginning, and while being editor gave me a sharper eye for good journalism, I didn't push the staff to do that; I pushed them to change patterns, be organized, be creative, develop their newswriting skills, turn things in on time, have lots of eyes see articles. And that's what I saw that they needed, especially the mostly freshman/sophomore '08-'09 staff. I turned over that staff to Aimee with few losses, and now she can push them to be better journalists and do the redesign that she's excited about, which has been a long time coming and which she can provide the appropriate guidance for (and I could not).
Joining the Collegian was one of the best choices I've made. Ever. I wanted to be on newspaper staff in high school but never did because I didn't think I'd have time. I was fortunate enough to choose a tiny little college where everyone gets the chance to be involved in anything, which for me meant ending up in charge of the student newspaper despite having no major or minor in Communication Arts or English. The Collegian made me more competent, more self-confident, more organized, more adept at using Mac OS, gave me an appreciation for print journalism, and taught me managerial skills.
I'd say the late nights were worth it.
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