As an introvert, I never believed I was capable of being a leader because I was shy and had no journalism experience. After I dedicated time to learn how to do the job right by doing more than what I was expected by writing stories for more than just a grade, I was given more responsibilities to help my fellow staff reporters out by being the head reporter of a group of reporters. This meant that I was responsible for getting my work done as well as making sure my group gets their load finished and peer-edited which meant lots of talking and thinking was involved in the process from pitch to publish.
EDITING & LEADERSHIP
EDITING
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Google Drive: InDesign Files & PDFs
When school closed due to the coronavirus during quarter four in 2020, I independently worked on the last quarterly school newspaper for the school year in order to prevent the tradition of having a newspaper every quarter from dying like most of McKinley's band and orchestra traditions. The app used to design the newspaper, InDesign, was pretty new to me but I got the hang of it once I dedicated more time into designing a quality product that I hope the school would be proud of with the help of my advisor's feedback and guidance from home.
Planning for the Last Quarterly Newspaper
As a lone designer of the last quarterly newspaper for the 2020 school year, I had no idea how to start besides laying out what little content we had in the beginning of fourth quarter. Over time, I took more and more initiative to help finish what my fellow staffers had started when classes were in person so that we could at least fill up the 16-page limit for a full newspaper. My advisor helped me loads with planning out how to construct a quality product that not only we or the school will be proud of, but for future audiences reading this newspaper and appreciating how much work has been put in to preserve this literary artifact.
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Feedback Form for Newspaper Drafts
In order to let my advisor know what I was up to, I frequently sent her revised InDesign files and updated PDFs on Google Drive as well as a feedback form so she can wite her comments on each page and nuance of the last newspaper of the 2020 school year. At first, my Newswriting class tried to give feedback via Zoom, but it was a challenge to understand what they were saying because of technical issues so we resorted to a Google Document because it is a way to stay organized and keep feedback understandable in order to revise the content and design for this historic product.
Colors for Coats Editorial Committee
In my sophomore year, after the final quarterly newspaper was published and distributed to the student body in my freshman year, I left Newswriting because of schedule conflicts where I had to choose between staying in either band or Newswriting and music was my passion ever since middle school. Nevertheless, I polished up my editing skills by joining an outside organization that spreads awareness about health disparities via articles or projects from various chapters of Colors for Coats. In total, I edited over 50 articles and learned much about the importance of editing and health topics like autism spectrum disorder.
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LEADERSHIP
Working Closely with Newspaper Advisor
Working alone at home is no easy feat. It requires time and dedication and one must have fun doing something that might otherwise be considered a chore. Designing a newspaper was fun for a shy but creative mind, which was why I was committed into producing quality work to prove that I am capable of working independently and I am open for feedback when possible. Although my advisor gave the most feedback while my classmates just did not care because it was the advisor's job to look after the progress of the newspaper, my close cooperation with my advisor helped me understand the ropes I was getting myself into by being ambitious enough to design a newspaper on my own and how I needed to finish what I started instead of quitting midway through by persevering with dignity.
Importance of "Clear" Communication
Hopping on a Zoom or WebEx meeting and trying to figure out what my advisor was asking of me through my phone screen and speakers was like trying to listen to a cotton ball being stabbed with a needle while sinking underwater. Instead of having me be confused every time my advisor tells me something, I created a Google Document so she can write down her feedback in a way that I can understand - by reading the actual text. This was also when I learned that I was a visual learner and not an auditory learner because I understand and comprehend text rather than listening to verbalized information.
TEAM BUILDING
Work Parties (Woo-hoo!)
Work parties happens when the entire student newspaper staff get together on a non-school day to focus on getting the finishing touches to produce and distribute the school newspaper. The party comes after a few hours of working and packaging the newspaper which requires having everyone contribute equally to the team effort. Work parties usually happen every academic quarter.
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