During my time at KSU, the newsroom has been my home and The Sentinel has been my family. I’ll never forget where it all started. It seems like only yesterday that I was a confused sophomore who changed majors as frequently as the weather. I was unsure of which direction to take, but I knew one thing was certain: I wanted to write. So I put in an application at The Sentinel and hoped for the best. A few weeks later when an editor reached out to me, I started writing opinion articles. It was so invigorating each time I saw my words and name in print. I’d pick up ten copies to show off to family, friends and co-workers. I wrote opinion articles on and off for a year. During that time, I also worked at a law firm in Atlanta, which may sound luxurious for a 19-year-old college student, but my gray cubicle was my own personal hell. Just before I turned 20, I lost my job at the law firm (I’m sure they could sense my growing apathy). This turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me. Because two weeks later, I got an e-mail from The Sentinel’s Editor-in-Chief at the time, Eric Fuller, asking me if I’d be interested in being the newspaper’s opinion editor for fall 2013. I was elated and jumped at the opportunity.
Looking back, my first day in the newsroom was laughable, but I remember having that nervous meets exciting feeling. It took me a good thirty minutes to figure out how to turn my computer on, off to a great start already. Feeling like the new kid inside a foreign territory, I sat silently as other seasoned and immensely talented staff members chatted about their summers. After a long first day, I was nervous I was in over my head and scared that I wasn’t cut out for an editor position. But luckily, I stuck it out.
As I started to become more familiar with my craft, I began to emerge out of my shell. I had finally found my calling. I switched my major to communication: journalism and emerging media and I dove head first into the wonderful world of student journalism. I finally felt like my life had direction. And after only a few weeks, I fell in love with The Sentinel and everyone involved in its weekly production. I was paired with a new designer, Becca Morrow – together we combined forces and took on the opinion section by storm. This comradery would come in handy later in our careers at The Sentinel.
After my first semester at the paper, our current Editor-in-Chief was graduating, leaving the position open. I had a successful run as opinion editor and thought, why not? With a pocket full of courage, I put together a list of goals I had in mind for the student newspaper; and I ran for Editor-in-Chief. The interview process was intimidating, but the Student Media Board elected me Editor-in-Chief of The Sentinel. If you remember me telling you how thrilled I was just to write for newspaper, you can imagine my excitement to be elected Editor-in-Chief.
It was January 2014 and The Sentinel was now in my hands. I promptly finalized the spring 2014 staff and got to work. I worked alongside the lovely Laura Zerlin, a talented graphic designer and production manager who had worked with The Sentinel for many years. She made me feel so comfortable as Editor-in-Chief and encouraged me the whole way through. I’m incredibly grateful for how easy she made the transition from editor to Editor-in-Chief for me. From breaking stories like Snowpocalypse, PETA v. KSU, and the SPSU Consolidation, that first semester as Editor-in-Chief allowed me to get my feet wet and understand all that goes into creating a successful student news publication.
When fall came around, I was re-elected as Editor-in-Chief. But this time, I had Becca Morrow by my side as Production Manager. We quickly became a dynamic duo, and after a trip to a summer media convention in Nashville, we brought back a new air of energy to The Sentinel. Pretty quickly, The Sentinel transformed. We held weekly meetings, events, added creative new aspects and projects to the paper and watched as it all came to life, week by week. Almost a year later, I’m so unbelievably proud of all the work we’ve done. Our talented, hard working staff has done amazing work and it’s both happy and humbling to work with passionate people who see your vision and make it come to life every week.
Three years, 291,000 printed copies and just about as many cups of coffee later, it’s hard to believe that it’s all over. Student Media saved my life. I’ll be forever grateful for everything I’ve learned within this little university newsroom and to all the people who helped launch me into a career in media. From Nashville to New York, from early morning News & Brews’ to late night productions where I was certain I’d pull my own hair out – I wouldn’t trade a single second of this experience for the world.
And of course, a big thanks goes out to my “journalism dad” and Student Media advisor Ed Bonza who always encouraged my staff and I with helpful advice and constant laughter. You taught me how to be a better journalist and a better person.
The honor and privilege were all ours, Brittany.