Spring Term - Part III: The Print of It

As I mentioned a few months ago, I had applied and gotten the position as Associate Copy Editor for my school newspaper (The Clackamas Print).  Because of this, my days were filled with yet another obligation, this one not counting towards my degree unfortunately.

It took me a while to accumulate, to observe and see where I fit, but I think it happened.  I am truly part of the dysfunctional family that is The Print.

I started out by buying an AP Styleguide, this was a necessity given that all of my previous writing training was in MLA format, and while the differences were subtle, they weren't obvious and were often important.

My time was served editing a couple articles a week (some easier than others) and then combing each page (along with several others) over and over again on production day, ensuring as close to perfection as possible on production day.

My big contribution didn't come until the second to last issue of the term.  I wrote an article on green beans, wrote two food reviews (Mazatlan and Toki) for a special food insert, took a photo for each and designed six ads.  I was also part of the production staff that created the food insert.  That was a BUSY week I tell ya. 

Towards the end of the term, it was time for editor applications, so of course I applied for the position I had been training for all term, Copy Editor.  Guess what?  I am now Web Editor.  I suppose my stregnths showed through and I am where I should be.

I also found a way to use this opportunity as Cooperative Work Experience over the summer, redesigning and reorganizing the website, getting it up to par so it will hopefully only be in need of the typical regular maintenance that comes with updates.  I took a baby step in the right direction, taking the reigns of The Print's Twitter account and giving it a facelift.

All and all, I've got my work cut out for me.  Step one, learn Joomla.  Yay.