COLUMN: Keep talking, Central Michigan
During the past five weeks of being your Editor-in-Chief, my staff has often asked me what keeps me going.
People keep me going.
You. The student next to you. Your professor.
The people who smile back at me while I walk to and from class.
Faculty members I've had the pleasure of learning from - without ever being a student in their class.
I do this for the various people who pick up a print edition who I love to strike up a conversation with while waiting in line to buy one of my many morning coffees at the 7/11 on Broomfield Road.
It's about the administrators I've met who are willing to find time to meet with me to talk about the changes I've made, and where I envision Central Michigan Life going in the future.
The people who keep me going are the ones who say 'no thank you' when I try to hand them a copy of the print edition.
Your sometimes harsh, uneducated slams on social media that keep my phone buzzing all day also keep me determined.
Even the professor who has criticism for every decision I make keeps me going.
Balancing work, two classes, a senior capstone, a studio pottery class, my boyfriend 88 miles away and opportunities to FaceTime my family, especially my one and 15-month old nieces, is difficult.
Your feedback, positive or negative, make being editor worth while.
When I first started out at Central Michigan Life, I was just a page designer learning the importance of headline hierarchy.
I mastered that, moved on to being in charge of the design desk and having the responsibility of teaching others what it takes to design a newspaper.
That wasn't enough for me.
I pioneered a new role of visual director because I didn't want to just design pages, I wanted to know why a story was going into print over another. I became more invested and asked more questions to enhance what I was designing.
That still wasn't enough.
From the moment I first walked into the Central Michigan Life office, to the moment I walked out of the conference room after being named the next Editor-in-Chief, my insatiable appetite for learning about journalism has only gotten stronger.
Keep commenting, tweeting, writing and talking.
I wouldn't be able keep going without you.
