Student Media: Thanks for a Great Year
What. A. Year. When I accepted my position as Managing Editor of The Traveler, I was pretty terrified. I wasn’t sure I was going have what it takes to manage a newspaper, especially faced with the news that The Traveler was going to be transitioning to four-days-a-week after just coming out once a week for the past couple of years. Now here I am, nine months later, and I can safely say this is the best job I have ever had. Never have I ever enjoyed coming to work more than when I have been running around this window-less office, yelling random things and generally being ridiculous.
Over the course of the school year, I like to think that I’ve written some decent enough columns with my take on important events that have occurred both on campus, nation-wide and around the world. So for my goodbye column, I hope you all forgive me for making this one just a series of shout outs to the people who have made this school year as memorable as possible.
First and foremost, my staff is perhaps the sole reason why this job has been as much fun as it has. From laughing hysterically with Lauren Leatherby to sharing knowing glances across the newsroom with Chad Woodard, and of course I can’t forget all of those potlucks that left me five pounds heavier. I honestly could not have asked to work with a better group of people.
While the home of student media is a windowless basement that sometimes feels like a prison, I think I have Stockholm Syndrome for this place. All of the these kids, from those who work at The Traveler, UATV and Razorback Yearbook have all grown to be my favorite people in the world. It makes me sad to think that I won’t get to come back to a workplace where Joe DelNero waltzes over from UATV and finds a new way for us to get into an argument. Also, a huge shout out goes to Nick Carter, the wonderful editor of the Razorback Yearbook. Without your freak outs, constant teasing and our frequent trips to Taste of Thai, well, this year just wouldn’t have been as fun.
And most importantly, of course, is a huge thank you to Saba Naseem, otherwise known as Wonder Woman. What began as a professional relationship between two girls who wanted to create a better newspaper, has turned into an extremely close friendship that I am so incredibly grateful for. Let’s face it, with the amount of time we spend together, you are probably closer to a sister than a friend. I am glad that I had someone to dance with during those long nights when we never thought we’d leave the office. I know that no matter where we both end up in life, you will always be one of my best friends.
For my first column of the school year, I expressed how important it is to get involved, to study abroad, to meet as many people as possible. Now that I have my last year under my belt (well at least 95 percent of it,) I want to press that issue one last time. If I had never walked into the Traveler office as a scared sophomore and introduced myself to the Editor at the time, I never would have met people that feel more like family than friends. I never would have gotten to go on paid trips to Orlando and St. Louis.
While I am not guaranteeing you will get paid trips or meet people who you consider family by getting involved in what you’re passionate about, I can guarantee that the positivity that will come out of it will make it worth your while. While I have had experiences that’ll sound great in job interviews, more importantly, The Traveler has given me experiences that I will have framed on display no matter where I am living.
Mattie Quinn is the 2011-2012 managing editor. She is a senior majoring in journalism.
