SEMESTER/
YEARLY
REFLECTION

2021 REFLECTION:

 

Not so long ago someone asked me why I joined the yearbook. I was a little taken aback because I haven’t been asked that question before, but after remembering my sophomore year that passion and desire to inspire, I knew that answer I was about to give her.

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Being on a student publication has allowed me to meet so many incredible individuals. I have gotten the opportunity to sit down and talk to these people about their passions and their thoughts. I have once not been excited to conduct an interview. I’ve always loved listening to the interviewee and how their face changes with every reaction they give from the questions I’m asking them. 

 

Last year I got to write a feature with another editor, Faith Parkinson, about a dance senior student named Alexander Thomas, who was sponsored by Nike for Black History Month. When I first began writing this feature I ran into a lot of obstacles, and I became incredibly frustrated with myself that I wasn’t writing the feature in the correct manner, and this really discouraged me. I wanted to tell his story since he was one of my best friends and I wanted to tell his story. Later Faith ended up working with me on the feature, and she taught me so much about journalistic writing. We finished the feature and I couldn’t have been more proud, and Alex had the same reaction as well. 

 

What I have come to understand about publications is that the best solution is communication. Being able to talk freely about how you feel and reaching out to others, has really has benefited me. I have learned so much from other editors and I am still continuing to learn every day. The yearbook has given me skills that I will take with me for the future such as how to reach out to others, deal with deadlines, be honest and transparent, etc. Skills I’ve learned on the Marquee have allowed me to better communicate with others, build a portfolio for myself, have better time management, etc, and I will take these skills with me for the future and so on. Being on the yearbook staff has given me a strong work ethic, and that is what's going to benefit me in the future. 

 

This year one of my biggest struggles was meeting deadlines and the fear of letting down my staffers. I decided to create check-ins with them during class so I can know where they’re all at and if there are any issues then I’m able to help them. I plan on texting each of them individually every day of the drafts so I know where what draft their work is in. For example, for deadline 4, one of our mods was very photo and writing heavy, and it had to be divided between four people. So the mod was split up between myself and three other staffers, and even though it was a lot of coverage and photos to be done, we were in constant contact with one another. If we struggled with finding a specific person in a photo t interview we would send that photo to a group chat we have and ask people each of us to know if they know who that person is, so more people are working together as opposed to one person struggling by themselves. 

 

Most importantly, I am honest with my staffers. I believe that we can only grow from honestly and as long as we’re respectful to one another, we can grow as a team and our coverage can improve. 

 

Overall, even though there have been stressful moments and times, nothing compares to the satisfaction I feel when I see the coverage completed and the gleaming look on my staffer’s face. To get the pleasure to watch their coverage grow since the very beginning has really been the best part of my job, and I for one, could not be more proud of them. I’m excited for what the future holds and all the more stories my staffers and I are going to cover. So when that person asked me why joined the yearbook, I smiled at them and said, “I get the privilege to tell someone’s story and to me, that’s the most self-rewarding job I could ever ask for.”

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2022 REFLECTION:

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Being a journalist has changed my life. I’ve always wanted to tell the stories of the world, and being given the opportunity to at Dreyfoos has meant everything to me. Growing up, I struggled a lot with my artwork. I was ashamed of being an artist. 

 

However, going into high school I got to do the things five-year-old me always wanted to do. I began bringing my camera to school freshman year just for fun and quickly realized how much I wanted to be involved in my school culture, and use my passions to tell stories. 

 

Now I’m a senior. I take my camera with me to school every day, it has become a part of me. 

 

Last year I covered spirit week coverage for the first time while doing my duty as Co-Class president. Honestly, it was a lot to handle and exhausting. Every day was a new set of challenges, having to be two different people with two different roles. Yet, during that week I learned the importance of balance, and that it’s okay to ask for help from others. Sometimes I feel like I have to do everything on my own, but during that week I reached out for help from my friends and peers to be able to accomplish both jobs. 

 

This year brought a new set of challenges and opportunities for me. It is my first year doing non-coverage and it was a hard adjustment for me. I as well am an editor to two staffers, and this year has been a learning process for all of us. However, I am extremely grateful to have them by my side to support me and for us to work together. For instance, we conducted a focus group in order to get feedback on last year’s book and what we can improve on for the future. The feedback we received was extremely helpful and beneficial in the future planning of the book and what we can do better for this year. As well, it gave me the opportunity to bond closer with my staffers and for us to work as a team.

 

Moreover, with planning celebrations and birthday events, the Public Relations team is constantly at work. We divide up the work based on our strengths and what each person prefers, communication is an essential part of how we work. Through creating a legacy wall of past works, the Marquee Masterpieces wall showcases student pieces, and goals for the staff to follow displayed on the wall, we want our staff to feel loved and appreciated. For birthdays we ensure every student receives a goodie bag and card from the entire staff, so they are acknowledged that they are loved and appreciated by all those on the staff. Creating a calendar and to-do lists allows me and my staffers to stay on track, and follow our deadlines. 

 

In this position, I’ve gotten to do both non-coverage and coverage. Covering events for photography and writing captions for them, as well as doing my job as a Public Relations editor. Being in this position has taught me a lot about myself and taught me the importance of balance, and networking. In Public Relations you need to branch out to people and network in order for information about the yearbook to be well dispersed throughout the student body. 

 

I am very grateful to have this position, and even more, grateful to have such incredible staffers and to be a part of such an amazing staff. Even though it’s my last year at Dreyfoos, I wish to positively impact my staffers, the staff, and the school through my artwork and my passions.

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