Oh my heavens, this is it. I’ve been thinking that same phrase for the past week and it’s hard to write about the end of my term as The Sentinel Newspaper’s editor-in-chief.
So much of my college experience has revolved around being a part of this team.
While my entire staff expects immense amounts of tears, and they aren’t far off, I’m going to use this space to explain how much writing for a college newspaper has changed my life and mentioning those that helped me along the way.
To start, let me take you back to spring 2012 when I walked into a room full of strangers and came out the editor of The Sentinel. I went in with a packet, a prayer and a good luck text from my mom ready to prove to the student media board that I wasn’t crazy for wanting to take this position. I told them I was going to do a redesign, create a styleguide and further the work of the editors before me. Thanks to a stroke of what I think is pure luck, I got the position.
I was ecstatic and it took me all of two minutes to start planning what I wanted to do with the newspaper. My next decision was my best to date as editor. I hired the best production manager I could have ever asked for, Andrea Dowis. From that point on, the two of us became an unstoppable duo and I owe all of The Sentinel’s success this year to her help. I will never be able to thank her for being my rock, my friend and my number 2.
The middle of my term involves happy tears, sad tears and exhausted tears. I owe my strength to the student media advisor, Ed Bonza. There aren’t many people that can put up with my kind of crazy, but Bonza never cared that I was overdramatic, intense and determined. He put so much time and faith into my term and I will be forever grateful for his help and believing in me.
My family is a major part of me making it through the middle. As the youngest twin, I tend to hate the spotlight and count on others to make major decisions. Lucky for
me, my twin sister Katie has always pushed me in the right direction and even convinced me to put in my application to become a writer years ago. If she didn’t make things better, my boyfriend Josh would. Without the two of them, I would have been lost without someone to talk me through all my biggest decisions.
As a daddy’s girl, I always go to Randy to share good news and to get advice on how to handle a staff. As my mother’s daughter, I’m thankful to say that I get my work ethic, attention to detail and ability to cry from Karen. As a granddaughter who can’t go a week without talking to her grandparents, I’m lucky to have a Nanny and Pop who listen to all the insane stories I have and to be my biggest fans. It was a big decision to take this job and if it wasn’t for my family agreeing to help me when I needed it, I never could have made it this far.
By the end of my term, I can honestly say that it takes a village to make a paper. Without the help of Amie, Alek and the rest of the student media staff, I would have lost my mind. I’m grateful for all the good times and being surrounded by people who truly reflect the messages that I write about them on their inspirational sticky notes. I’m a mother hen type so here is the part where I thank every section editor, designer, writer, photographer or staff member that has been a part of The Sentinel. You make a lot of friends being a part of a group, but it’s nice to choose a group that becomes a family. You all are the reason the paper goes out each week and I can never thank you enough for your dedication.
Okay, I’m done being sappy. Regardless of all the complaints and constant questioning, I will be forever changed by my decision to join my college newspaper. Thank you all for reading The Sentinel each week and I hope that you continue to find something to enjoy and consider becoming a part of the family that I’ve been happy to be a member of for the past 3 years. It’s all yours Eric.
Megan is a senior and a Communication major.
“I’m blessed with three boys (my wife says she has four, but I don’t know what she’s talking about), but if I had a daughter, I would like her to be just like Megan. A truly good person with a huge heart. I’m going to have her cloned.”
– Ed Bonza
