It was my first story ever. I was covering women’s basketball and had been left alone to interview the coach. The Lady Jackets won due in large part to their rebounding. So I asked the coach if rebounding was something that had been stressed recently. “We’ve been rebounding great all year… if you had been following us,” she quickly informed me.
And with that I offended my first interviewee and committed the cardinal sin of not studying my topic. My journalism career was not off to a good start, but something told me it was a rookie mistake. So instead of calling it quits, I stuck with the newspaper and somehow ended up being editor, and I never again conducted an interview without researching my topic, top to bottom.
I thought my writing skills were deplorable and needed improving. After the little rebounding fiasco, I continued writing, eventually moving on to Managing Editor and on to my current role. Of course I never set out to be editor, it was more of a situation of being in the right place at the right time.
The Technique has been an integral part of my Tech career, but it all seems fresh every day. I still get that proud feeling when I see someone pick up a copy on Friday. Of course, I get nauseous at the thought that someone will find an error on the front page, but all I had to do was stop watching people read the papers. Once I got past that, every minute has been a joy.
I hope the Tech community has enjoyed the paper we publish every Friday. More time and effort goes in to a paper than most people ever realize. I never knew I could function off three hours of sleep for two days every week, but I adapted.
My staff is really to credit with this year’s success. Without them the Technique would be non-existent or my name would be in every byline. I can not begin to explain how truly grateful I am to these fine individuals. From the writers and photographers, all the way up to section editors, my job has been made easy.
My greatest fear was that all the editors would perform a coup one deadline and walk out. Not much I could have done to stop it, considering they don’t get paid that much to be here. They all stuck with me, though, because they care just as much as I do about this organization and its purpose. The staff continues to put out great issues week in and week out.
The Technique wasn’t perfect though, and I take all the blame for it. We started off the semester by having to run a correction in the first four issues. Trust me, every error haunted me when inevitably someone brought it to my attention. Contrary to popular belief, no error was done intentionally and I regret every single one. I thought we would never get it right, but finally we hit a stride.
No matter, I feel we had a great year and this publication has an even brighter future ahead. We got to report on some of the most important stories to happen to Tech in years. From Clough’s retirement and Gailey getting fired all the way back to the near destruction of the Ramblin’ Wreck, this year’s staff witnessed events that would have been enough for one year. I feel extremely fortunate to have been able to cover all these stories.
The feedback and suggestions are always welcome as well. The majority of all stories started out as an idea from someone outside the organization. So thank you to those that kept us informed.
There will be some things that will be missed next year. I won’t miss the sleepless nights, but I will miss the friends and the acquaintances. Being able to actively contribute to campus society was a great feeling as well. When students told me an article was informative to them, that meant the world to me. I won’t get that feeling much past this issue.
So as I draw to a close I want to give my very best wishes to next year’s staff. I was always told that my success as an editor would be gauged by my successors and I feel confident in their ability to take the newspaper to new heights. The credo of the Technique is to be the voice of the students and next year’s staff will be just that.
Thank you again, especially to the readers, for making the Technique a success. You have truly made this the highlight of my Tech career.