Looking back on my time as a Sports Editor for The Campus, I cannot help but feel overwhelmed by the joy this experience has given me.
My first article for the paper came out in September 2020, titled “Keeping busy on campus.”
I began my career as a news reporter while working in the entry-level journalism course at the college. Writing articles gave us an easy opportunity for extra credit in the class, so it was a no-brainer to sign up.
I wrote three articles that semester, and then took a year and a half off from the paper. When I returned, I came into a job on staff as the sports writer.
There is a long story behind my absence that would be a whole other article in itself, but my passion and desired future of becoming a journalist drove me back.
Writing and speaking for a living runs in my family, and I wanted to continue the tradition from a young age — The Campus was a terrific opportunity.
I worked hard and wrote many articles before taking another step forward into the role of Sports Editor. Today, I have inked over 75 stories for The Campus.
Taking over the little nook in the back corner of our small office space for the past five semesters has taught me a lot about reporting, and at the top of the take home notes is how much work it requires.
Since filing in as the editor, I have operated the sports page alone for the last two years with minimal help and stories to be published weekly.
It does not look like much having one small page in the back of the paper. But, having to manage one to three stories a week and layout when trying to balance academics, athletics plus the beginning of a broadcasting career adds up quickly.
There have been times where the work seems to pile on and days when I did not want to write. Still, I pushed on for two main reasons.
One, because it was my job and I signed up for the labor. Second, because of the incredible Editors-In-Chief The Campus has been blessed with over the past several years.
Ethan Woodfill, Roman Hladio and current man at the helm Sami Mirza have run the paper to the best of their abilities, and they all encouraged me to pursue this job further. I offer a huge thank you to each one of them in my final goodbye.
I am also thankful for the aforementioned workload. It taught me to supervise my time, communicate better with my colleagues and gave me a chance to develop my craft. Deep down, I loved the grind.
Designing the page has grown to be my favorite part of creating the paper.
Having full control over the layout is nice. It allows experimentation with the look and creativity blossoms.
The page garners professionality, but I have tried ideas now applicable in other passions of mine that enhanced my performance and ability.
One of my favorite builds is the photo collage stories of different events, piled together in one rectangle capturing several action moments. There are other designs that I will use elsewhere in the future as well.
It is hard to say what will happen to the sports section for The Campus in the coming years. Unfortunately, there is no interest from others to continue writing in the sports department — a large reason why I have ran this section alone for the past two years.
It would have been a delight to mentor or work alongside other students here to reinforce the future of this department within the paper. I can only desire it to continue in some way, shape or form.
That is out of my control. All I have is the work created in prior years to look back on and be proud of.
This paper does not have the audience of the New York Times, but I hope my time here has informed, or perhaps even left a smile on the faces of a few individuals through the feel good success stories of one athlete or another.
Making a difference in the world matters, and my incredible journey with The Campus has left me wanting to do more of that in my future writing endeavors.
This position has opened the door for many possibilites, and it has already been a stepping stone towards writing for the local paper.
It has been my pleasure to write for The Campus. I thank God for giving me this chance, and wish for my next experience to be as enjoyable as this one has been.
