I can’t believe how fast this semester flew by. I've had a great time, but I can certainly use a break. Working on this paper has been a valuable experience for me. I learned more this semester about journalism than I have over many years of studying. I also had a wonderful time getting to know everyone. I've made some great friends in this class that I will keep in touch with.
Over the semester, I've been on quite a journey while being involved in the newspaper. At the beginning of the term, I felt really overwhelmed. I have had experience, but Its been a while since I was the head of a newspaper. There were a lot of times where I just didn't know what to do. It was really hard, because I felt like I was blind leading the blind. Everyone had questions for me that sometimes, I just couldn't answer. It stressed me out a lot, but thankfully, everyone was patient with me as I navigated my way through the whole process.
There's one thing that I want to stress. Throughout this semester, I've been a student just like everybody else. Just because I'm in a leadership position doesn't make me perfect. I had 16 units total this semester, and a job, and a crazy family. I went through a lot in my personal life thorughout the semester, but I tried to remain dedicated to my commitments in spite of everything at home. I put a tremendous amount of work into this paper, almost to the point where it was taking over my life. I would say that in a given week, I would spend about 30 hours doing newspaper related activities. I would come in during my time off the get things done.
Anyways, back to buisness. I learned pretty quickly that I would need to take it upon myself to learn how to get the whole process going and set the class in the right direction. I took a lot of extra time to make directions, practice InDesign so I would know what to do, and get all of the affairs in order.
What really helped me is that I went back to my high school newspaper adviser Dave Poetzinger to get advice. Dave was also my English teacher and a great friend. I have continually relied on him for support throughout my entire college career. He's been a great mentor to me. I know that whatever success I may have in my life, I owe a great deal to him.
I was so stressed out on the first layout night that I thought I might have a heart attack. I was nervous because the first issue would really set the path we would go down for the rest of the semester.
There's no doubt about it, the first issue was pretty terrible. There was no continuity, the pictures were dark, and the layouts were a mess. However, it was good considering that the majority of the staff had never worked on a newspaper before. Everybody has to start somewhere. With our starting point, we could only improve.
I learned from the first issue that next semester, I'm going to get everyone on the computers and trained on InDesign so when the first layout night comes, everyone is more prepared. When I first learned InDesign, my teacher (Dave, the same guy I talked about before) told us to get on the computers and just play with it. InDesign is really a program that gets easier and easier the more time you spend on it.
After the first issue, I went to Victoria Nelson at the Register Pajaronian to get some advice on design. She gave me a lot of tips about how to make a continuous, organized design for our paper. She explained to me that major aspects of each page should have standardization because our paper is so small, and we don't have many stories to each page, so anything outside of a standard text would look like a glaring mistake. She suggested to me what the headlines, body text, and photos should look like, which were all things I considered when making the templates.
I also received help from my DM instructor Wendy Norris, who has done newspaper layout before. A lot of the students from my DM class emailed me tips and ideas on how to make the design of the paper better.
There have been some questions about my experience as a designer. I know I'm young and I don't have much professional experience with design, but I did do a lot of research and put in a lot of time thinking about the design of the paper. I realize there are aspects to the design that weren't ideal, but I tried to take all considerations when I was adjusting the templates. Every week I got new ideas and suggestions on how to improve, and I tried to incorporate those.
Templates were a big thing for me. All the design experience I've had comes from working with templates. I knew that making templates would help out everyone a lot. The great thing about templates is that they are a guide. You don't have to layout your page exactly how they are, but they are a helpful starting point. It was important to me that everyone be able to layout the page with the overall look of the paper in mind, but at the same time, is able to do his or her own thing.
I think we really hit our stride in the election issue. I got a huge response from people from the campus after that issue came out. I was elated because I finally felt like all the stress and work that went into the paper was being recognized.
I also really enjoyed working on the clubs issue. I worked with DM intructor Beth Regardz on the cover, and she taught me a lot about design, layout, and InDesign.
I got the idea for the clubs issue when I was brainstorming ideas to generate interest in the paper. I thought to myself, "What would make an average student want to pick up the paper and read it?" My answer was is that people want to read baout themselves. They want to see their name or picture in the paper. I thought a way that I could do that is to cover the clubs. AGS alone has 160 members. I thought if I could mention all the work they do, they would want to read it and share it with their friends and family. But I didn't want to stop myself at AGS, I wanted to open it up to all the clubs and really get the word out on all the clubs Cabrillo has to offer. There is quite a variety that encompasses the diversity of the campus. I hope to expand the clubs coverage next semester.
It still amazes me how far we've all come. Compared to the beginning of the semester we've all grown a lot. This class was offered a different experience than most classes, because it was all hands on. I really like the way Brad advised the class. He was there to help but really put the responsibility in our hands. It really made me feel like all the accomplishments we achieved were that much more satisfying because we did it ourselves.
If there is anything I will change about how I run it next semester, I will definitley be more organized. Looking back, I wished I would have planned each paper and deadline in advance, instead of just flying by the seat of my pants every week. I also want to write more and help others write. That was one thing that was kind of frustrating to me is that I would get so wrapped up in running the paper that I wasn't able to do what I really loved, which is write.
With all said and done, I'm really happy with how everything turned out. I still have a lot to learn but I'm really trying. I'm proud of the work I did and of everyone else. Everyone contributed to this paper in his or her own way, and I thought we made a really great team.
I hope The Voice continues next semester because with all the experience we have now, I feel like we can make this the best paper ever.
Have a great winter break!
