Simpson College is fortunate to have a Communications Department that cares about student media and allows us to have a voice via The Simpsonian, ID Magazine, KSTM: The Storm and SCTV. And I have been fortunate to be a part of student media for three out of the four years of my college experience.
I’ve written approximately 31 stories for The Simpsonian, which means I’ve written over 15,500 words for the paper. I’ve had over 20 pictures in print and online. As layout editor, I’ve laid out approximately 50 print editions over five semesters. As ID Magazine Editor-in-Chief for two years, I’ve had four publications released. That’s a lot of hours. A lot of questions . . . interviews . . . late nights . . . on-time stories and past due stories and mental breakdowns. And yet, I don’t regret any of it.
I’ve been able to grow more confident not only in my writing ability but also in my interviewing ability. I used to get so scared before having to interview someone that I thought I was going to have to cancel because I would throw myself into such a frenzy, but now I look forward to talking to people because it gives me a chance to give them a voice and to write a good story.
Through writing for The Simpsonian, I’ve been able to interview faculty, staff, other students and coaches. My favorite stories to take were sports features. I loved interviewing student-athletes such as Cassie Nash, Reed Worth, Max Cleveland, Jenna Joseph, J Jensen and Kaelyn Tally. But I also loved being able to interview Simpson College Women’s Wrestling assistant coach Emma Cochran, Women’s Gymnastics head coach Emily Barrett Payne and the legend himself, Jake Brend.
And how could I forget to mention the convention trips I was able to go on to Atlanta and New Orleans? The conventions themselves were decent, but it was the company that made both trips worth it. I consider Professor Siebert lucky (or unfortunate) because he had to travel with me on three different occasions. The memories with Hannah, Anna and Kenzie in New Orleans will forever be core memories (#Barb).
While you might think that I would consider everything I listed above my greatest achievements for student media, I don’t (for the most part). Instead, I believe my greatest achievements are my cat listicles and including George in any way I could get my hands on in any aspect of student media, including his stickers. My philosophy, after all, is, “George should be included in everything we do regarding student media.”
Now that I’ve tooted my own horn for almost 400 words, I want to thank the student media and the communications department at Simpson. Thank you to Professor Carponelli for being an inspiration and supporter. Thank you to Professor Steffen for your endless praise and your motivation. Thank you to Professor Siebert for everything. You’ve helped me endlessly and have been there in some of my darkest times and proudest accomplishments. Thank you to Kenzie, Anna, Hannah, Clare, Maddie, Raegan and Frank for putting up with my shenanigans, especially during editor meetings. I can’t wait to see what you all do in the future and I am so lucky to consider you all friends.
I can’t not write a thank you to President Jay Byers. I know he will continue cheering student media on. He was, after all, a staff writer for The Simpsonian. It meant so much to all of us when he supported us, and I loved it when he stopped by on release days for ID Magazine. I hope everyone cherishes their copy of the Fall 2024 edition of ID Magazine, especially if he autographed it.
I could write more about anything and everything regarding my experience in student media and how lucky I am to be able to see my work all over campus, which is why I think Simpson College is fortunate to have this outlet for aspiring journalists and photographers at their fingertips.
Cheers to my final byline as a student writer for The Simpsonian. #RollStorm ⚡