day four: newsies.

this semester i was a design chief for our university newspaper, the university daily kansan.  it was my third semester working for the paper but i was pretty worried about being a design chief.  i mean, let's be honest. i've designed 95% of my blog with microsoft paint. (the other 5%: picnik.com) i even got a microsoft paint award! see last year's award here.

[which reads: "because if she had it her way, she would have done the entire paper in microsoft paint."]

but, the editors thought i had it in me.

the first few shifts were terrifying/exciting & incredibly exhausting.  this semester i had an 8am class, worked at my main job, (the university's german department) and would quickly run by the grocery store to pick up a lovely microwavable meal for that night's dinner before arriving for my design shift at 4p.m. the entire shifts you are designing non-stop.  of course there is the occasional late content or waiting on your computer to upload imaged files. (seriously, had our computers not been such grumps we could have been out of there by midnight easily) - but sometimes, i think it was just a sign that we should take a moment to breathe, stretch & laugh, lots. 

[twizzler mustaches are deliciously charming.]

i am so glad i took the risk of such a big job. 
i learned so much about the news industry, designing with real design programs (InDesign is my new bff.) & had a blast doing it. 


i love my fellow newsies. they are amazingly hard-working, dedicated, supportive, talented people.  i am so inspired by their passion & can totally see myself someday saying to my kids: "Oh, I worked with them before they were famous journalists, way back in 2010." i'll totally brag about it. 


while the 10+ hour shifts would sometimes wear me out beyond belief, and my horribly rocky friendship with Photoshop, i wouldn't change a thing. 


& this song will forever take me back to the newsroom - the frantic moments before finishing the paper, how we would play it loud to instill hopes of returning to our homes before 1 a.m. 

but how really, the newsroom was our home for a semester.

xo-