After two-and-a-half very long and productive years, I say good-bye to The Preface, her staff and the great people I’ve met over the years.
Hold it. That’s not entirely right.
I am saying good-bye to The Preface, but not to the school.
As complicated (or insane, depending on who you talk to) as it may seem, I am graduating in May, but I’m returning in the fall for another year to get a degree in history.
When I became editor in last summer, I wasn’t under any misguided illusions that this would be an easy job.
Between staff, budget, printers, stories falling apart, stories needing to be rewrote and late afternoon romps on Mondays to get photos and additional quotes to shore up stories filled my life the past year.
And doing this job takes dedication. You have to love it, and you have to be willing to sacrifice your weekends to do this job.
But it was all worth it. I’m not complaining about anything I’ve had to do to get each issue out every week. There was a lot of rewards that will come later on in my life. As someone once said: “Do something scary, the pay off is awesome.”
Through my time on The Preface I’ve been afforded several opportunities. There are several events that stand out.
The first is March 2008 when the Sen. Hillary Clinton’s presidential nomination campaign stopped at Mishawaka High School. Taking part of a historical campaign is one of those events I’ll always remember. I was a part of history, not many student journalists can came that during their career.
The following year, I covered the Tea Party protest—one of hundreds held on April 15, 2009. I learned what quotes to use, what quotes not to use and saw firsthand how the media skews the news.
Covering politics has grown on me. This year is another election year and, the 2nd District is already shaping up to be another “all eyes on the Hoosier state” contest. I covered three of the four candidate forums held on campus. All of them interesting and informative events that saw more community turn out than student turnout.
I didn’t do this job for the money (don’t expect to earn a living here), or for the clips. I did it because I loved it.
But more importantly, The Preface is compromised of a dedicated staff that was willing to sacrifice a weekend to take a story, or to fill in something needed to be done.
Also, Sam Centellas and Angie Klontz were angels on our shoulders when we needed something done, or needed an answer to something
To Alec Hosterman and Ken Klimek, I know that The Preface will continue its transition to the Arts department and will only continue to improve over the years under your guidance and enthusiasm.
And lastly, to our readers, I say thank you.
