Leadership brings difficulties, opportunities

I was told it'd be lonely at the top. But, I refused to believe it.

When I got the position of editor-in-chief of The Campus newspaper, I knew I'd have a lot of responsibility ahead of me. Was I ready? I'm not sure, but I was excited.

There were a lot of changes coming to The Campus in the 2009-2010 school year. We had an all new editor position, redesigned the paper and strived to have more issues picked up off the stands.

I believe this has been a successful year for us. We've met the goals and standards that I set for the entire staff.

We've worked hard to serve the student body as the paper of the students and I know that we will continue to do so.

I've grown hoarse from yelling at the staff. I've spent the night after a production crying my eyes out because I knew the issue wouldn't come out on time.


I know I've been hard on writers, photographers and page editors. I've been hard on myself too. But, it was all for the best. I think it's shown in the growth of our paper as well as the honors we've received.

We came home with 22 individual awards at a recent KACP conference, a bronze for our online edition, a gold for our print edition and a first runner up for Journalist of the Year.

We wrote award winning stories, and sometimes even turned them in before deadline!
We saw writers grow, ledes develop, hard news coverage and even some tears along the way.

I'm pretty sure I was the one who cried when we halfway lost Cyrus in the crowded streets of Austin last semester. But, I have to laugh looking back at him receiving jokes from the bum on the street, then not realizing he wanted pay for the jokes.

I've never been more proud of my staff of almost 15 when they announced that we had won a gold in overall print edition. We got a bronze last year - after several golds and silvers.

I won't ever forget my time with The Campus, and the staff I worked alongside. I do respect each and every individual and the time and effort they put in for me; for the campus. They taught me a lot, and I hope they learned a little along the way.

I wish Dani and the remaining members of the staff the best of luck in the coming year. I know The Campus will continue to grow.

It's not lonely at the top. Really, it's not. Especially with so much support beneath you.