Thank you Mesa Press for my experience here. It sure has been a tough time, but this publication has taught me to keep on pushing through and be resilient. I will miss going to class from 11:10 to 12:35 every Tuesday and Thursday but staying until sunset on production deadlines once a month.
You have taught me to step out of my comfort zone and take on roles that I thought weren’t meant for me or I was not capable of. I learned to be patient with myself and my work.
Leading a new staff this semester as Editor-in-Chief was something different for you. And being News Editor last year for the first time was sure a tough one too. You had to learn InDesign and get frustrated time after time because the front page would not come out how it was supposed too, and for this semester learning how to use InDesign and how to do the layout for all the pages. Also shoutout to command z!
YOU HAD NO IDEA WHAT YOU WERE DOING, BUT YOU DID IT!
This semester, only a couple of weeks ago you realized how important Mental Health is, from having mental breakdowns and not wanting to get out of bed and feeling miserable to getting up and realizing that you need a break sometimes and need to stop putting too much pressure on yourself.
You would fall again and again, but you would get back up again and again and again. When you would doubt if you were made for this or capable of doing journalism as a career or when destructive thoughts would come to mind, these words would bring you comfort and are constantly being replayed in your mind:
You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.
A Mexican first-generation student was managing a staff where she made sure everyone felt comfortable asking questions in a new environment because she knew how hard it was for her to do such thing and she would make herself available for her staff when they needed help with anything.
A first-generation student would stay until two or three in the morning making sure stories were edited, completed, and posted, and the layout was somewhat finished or prepared and ready for a class for a couple of hours. She had to edit and make sure the layout for all the pages was top-notch before sending it out to the printer.
Your small staff made you proud TWICE when there were enough stories to produce an eight-page newspaper.
I am grateful and proud of the 2021-2022 staff: Teal Davis, Milena Greeney, Johnathan Scott, Victor L. Moore, and Brandon Quintero.
Thank you, Professor Braun, for your patience and guidance, and thank you Jared for your help last semester including this semester! See you at SDSU!
I learned that choosing journalism as my major was not a mistake at all.
I am glad to say that I was a part of this publication where I was able to connect with aspiring journalists who will make it to the journalism industry one day.
WE WILL DO AMAZING THINGS!
I am glad to say that I was part of a long line of amazing Editors-in-Chief at The Mesa Press.
Jenn, you went above and beyond in this publication and you would do it all again.
My legacy at The Mesa Press is one for the books and now I am off to creating a new one at San Diego State University.
