Caught in the Middle

December 16, 2009  
Filed under Opinion

When you are in journalism, towards the end of the year most students make the decision between applying for newspaper or for yearbook staff. Though the decision for some may be easy, it was quite difficult for me. As a freshman, I was already stressed about college. I knew I wanted to attend New York University and that I wanted to major in journalism. Being in both yearbook and newspaper played big rolls in my future career plans, and I really was not willing to decide between the two.

So I took the chance and applied for both, hoping that I would be accepted. Many people told me I was crazy and I would not be able to handle the stress of meeting all of the deadlines, but I was determined. I knew what I was capable of and was not going to let what others were saying discourage me.
In yearbook, you are given the opportunity to create something that many will look at way beyond their high school years. Though it may just be a book, it is so much more to any yearbook staff member. Creating quirky mods, captions, business ads, senior ads and completely constructing a layout are things that get my creative juices flowing and allow me to show others what our school is like.

I enjoy being able to put my own ideas and thoughts into something that people will get and look through remembering some of their greatest memories, but at the same time getting my ideas checked, remade, and criticized are things I could do without. Often my original plans for a layout are not the final product, but for everything to come together you have to be willing to make compromises.

Yearbook is a very group-friendly environment. Putting a yearbook together involves the help and cooperation from everyone. Yearbook staff members rely on each other a lot, and form bonds that may never be broken and at the end of the year we all look back and say “We did it!”

In newspaper, the possibilities are endless. You can write about nearly anything, from things happening in your school to events happening across the world. The thing I like most about being a newspaper staff member is that I am not limited. I can express my opinion in an opinion story or I can look deeper into something in an in-depth story.

I love involving quotes into my stories, allowing students to speak out and be heard, and although my stories are edited and sentences may be rearranged, my ultimate idea is still there.  Newspaper has its moments where you need help from others and work together, for example to do our podcasts we need partners, but a large majority of the time it is me, myself and my story
There is a lightly spoken battle between the classes, and every day I am caught in the middle. The humorous hostility towards one another makes me glad that I made the decision to be in both classes.

In Yearbook you will:

Write small stories
Place pictures
Edit pictures
Design layouts
Create mods
Come up with captions
Get quotes
Selling ads
FUNDRAISING!
Visit Herff Jones

In Newspaper you will:

Write stories
Write blogs
Make Podcasts
Create InDesign documents occasionally
Possibly sell ads
Get quotes
PUT IT ALL ONLINE!

Story about newspaper!
Story about newspaper and yearbook!
Story about yearbook!

—–
Danon Taylor

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