I was thrilled and honestly a little bit surprised when I was invited to join the staff at The Temple News. I had no idea what it would entail, but I hadn’t taken part in many activities on campus, other than playing roller hockey my freshman year.
When I joined the staff, I knew I had big shoes to fill. The 2007-08 Online Editor Sean Blanda put TTN on the map in terms of its online product, and I went in there with the mentality that I didn’t want to screw up all he’d accomplished.
I learned quickly that TTN is more of a family than anything. I was encouraged not only to maintain what he built, but also to add to it and put a bit of myself into the product the previous staff created.
I asked myself the same question all year: Why did it take me this long to get involved?
If I could go back, I would have gotten involved much sooner.
The long, tiresome production nights were actually quite fulfilling. Sometimes we’d leave as late as 2 a.m. Tuesday morning, but we could admire a great product when we were finally finished. At TTN, I accomplished what everyone hopes to in their careers – I thought of my job as a fun hobby, rather than a requirement.
The laid-back atmosphere and close camaraderie among staff members allowed me to ease into redesigning the site in January. My proudest moment was when the Web site, temple-news.com, won Editor & Publisher’s EPpy Award for Best Collegiate Newspaper Web site.
I got a congratulatory call from the online editor from Louisiana State University’s Daily Reveille, the reigning winner for the award. At the time, I felt I had a big hand in something that was making waves on a national level.
Looking back, I’m thrilled to have had the opportunity to work with such a talented staff and put together an amazing product, continuing the tradition of excellence that TTN upholds.
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