As my final days as Editor-In-Chief of The Odyssey at Mizzou come to a close, I feel a little bit sad, a little bit relieved, but mostly, I feel humbled.
I have held this position for the past 12 months, following eight months I spent as a writer. I was honored to be recognized and approached to take over the EIC position for the 2014-2015 school year after earning respect as a writer. I knew the position would be a huge responsibility to take on, but my gut told me to accept it due to my interest in writing, my passion for leading, and my desire to improve the publication as a whole. And so, I went with my gut.
Some days I look back on that day and curse my gut for letting myself take on such a big workload, but most of the time I pride myself for taking on the experience and making the most of it.
Being Editor-In-Chief of this paper is not a simple job. It is always in the back of your mind -- your writers, article ideas, a piece you forgot to edit -- it never ends. When one deadline is met, another one is scheduled. Furthermore, you are responsible for a number of duties within the organization: writer recruitment, social media sharing, editing a minimum of 20 articles weekly, motivating college students to meet deadlines, planning both print and digital publications, coordinating with writers and editors at all times -- the list goes on. You would think that all these responsibilities would overshadow any sort of benefit to the position, right? That is where you are wrong.
People ask me all the time, “Why do you do it?" Well, let me tell you.
I do it because I am genuinely proud of the end product that all this hard work and responsibility creates: the paper. Both digitally and in print, I am proud each week of the work we accomplish. I am proud of my writers who continuously surprise me with witty writing and creative ideas. I am proud that we work as a team, because this way, we produce something with much greater potential than one person's ideas alone. I am proud that The Odyssey has grown tremendously, both on our campus and across the nation, as a digital news outlet. I am proud that I have carried out this position for an entire year. I am proud that I always see more potential for growth within The Odyssey. I am proud to have been Editor-In-Chief of such a great organization.
I am sad, but humbled, to move on. My experience has been a roller coaster, but I wouldn't change a thing. Just as I saw one year ago, I still see today, all the potential this publication holds to continue to expand and improve. That being said, I am excited to see our next Editor-In-Chief, Pi Beta Phi Natalie Dupin, guide the organization to fulfill this potential during the 2015-2016 school year.
Thank you to all the writers and all the readers who have helped The Odyssey grow and be great during the past year. I end my term as Editor-In-Chief with pride, passion and anticipation, knowing that this is only the beginning of what's to come.
