I have spent the last four years of my life and countless hours working for the Owl newspaper. There have been so many highs and lows of being part of this staff but I am thankful for the experiences that I have been given.
I started my journey working for the Owl staff at the very beginning of my freshman year. Creating a newspaper every week in the midst of the COVID pandemic added its own challenges on top of being a new staff member and editor. I distinctly remember having some weeks where the whole editorial staff was quarantined and we had to make the issues from our rooms on a Facetime call with each other.
From there, I worked as the Life and Culture Editor for three years until this year when I became Editor-in-Chief. I have learned how to work with a range of people. I have had to manage unique personalities and learn how to send repeated emails asking for interviews without hopefully being too annoying. I genuinely think that being able to talk about some of these experiences, among others, in recent job interviews helped me to land the job I currently have after graduation.
Despite my ups and downs with this paper, it will always hold a special place in my heart. The staff members when I first joined were my first friends on campus and it gave me something to always look forward to each week.
Hughes holds the Owl’s mascot “Ollie Kyler” at her last ‘Owl Night’ as editor in chief.
Through this position, I learned the importance of the truth and reporting that. Although to many, this may be a student-lead newspaper for a small university in Nebraska but it does matter. Some stories may be just about upcoming student events but others are so much more than that. They give insights into student and faculty lives and concerns. They depict what matters to students. It is always exciting to open the newspaper to see a picture of yourself or your friends at an event.
Everything that I learned being part of this staff was impacted by so many people.
First I would like to thank the previous Editor-in-Chief and staff for helping me grow into the position that I have now and the writer that I am today. In the same vein I would also like to thank the current staff despite the fact that they sometimes drive me crazy, they worked with me through highs and lows, good ideas and bad ideas.
I also want to thank the countless people who responded to my emails, set up interviews, sent me courtesy pictures and responded to my frantic last minute article requests.
Not only are those who responded to my various emails and text messages for the Owl in need of being thanked but also the people who have supported the newspaper for the past four years. Specifically, the people who supported and advocated for the newspaper when the budget and staff members’ paychecks were slated to be cut during the prioritization process deserve to be thanked.
Everyone who reads the newspaper week after week also means so much to me and all of the other staff members.
Finally, I would like to thank and give so much credit to the Owl advisor Eric Tucker. Not only has he been a rock of support and insight but he is also one of the most caring people that I have ever met. Not only was the Owl staff lucky to get him back but I was lucky to be able to work with him week after week.
With all of the support that the Owl has from Eric and so many students and faculty at Doane, I have high hopes for the future of this newspaper. I have no doubt in my mind that next year’s staff will do an amazing job and John Dawes will be an excellent Editor-in-Chief. I will always be rooting you all on and reading every week.
