Editor says goodbye, reflects on time spent with The Register

It’s hard to put into words the relationship I have with journalism and The Register. Most of the time it’s symbiotic. Other times The Register has drained me to the point where I’ve never wanted to pick up a camera or look at a page again. But eventually I came back to write another story, edit another article or design another page. The Register has been my best accomplishment, and my biggest source of defeat. And I’ve never been so proud.
My sophomore year I stumbled onto staff with no journalism experience and not a clue how to write an article fit for print. Unlike my peers, I hadn’t taken the introductory journalism class and didn’t know basic AP style or the inverted pyramid. But eventually I fell in line, fell in love with journalism, and began gunning for a spot as Executive Editor, second in line to Editor-in-Chief.
Luckily, I, along with my current co-Editor-in-Chief, were offered the opportunity to become an Exec. The year that followed was the most challenging year of my life; both incredibly driven by our desire to improve the newspaper and make it something to be proud of, we competed day after day. Not without tears, I pushed myself past my limits constantly. Because of it, I wrote better articles, took better pictures, and designed better pages. But I also made mistakes and missteps that I was sure would doom me. Eventually, the end of the year came and for the first time ever, The Register had two Editors-in-Chief.
With a new vision of a professional, respectable and modern publication, my co-Editor placed her focus on design, while I took the writing and content aspect of the newspaper under my wing. I redirected our staff’s efforts, and helped us try to write hard-hitting news pieces and revealing editorials.
It seems to have paid off. This fall, The Register was awarded second place Best of Show at the JEA national conference, an achievement so shocking and satisfying my co-Editor and I fell out of our chairs after it was announced.
No pursuit in high school has challenged me as much as The Register. I’ve learned how to defend my work to administrators, parents and peers. I’ve mulled over designs for hours. I’ve spent entire football games trying to chase the perfect photo that I never really got.
But we’ve built something really incredible. I’m thrilled that my co-Editor and I were able to take in The Register and release it three years later as something remarkably improved. And, of course, The Register has done the same with me.
Through journalism, I’ve learned how to be myself and how to be a friend to others. I’ve learned how to take risks. I’ve learned when to speak and when to listen and when to question and when to shut up.
With The Register, I’ve matured and grown up and become someone that’s ready to go to college and tackle journalism or writing or politics. Because of journalism, I feel confident that I am ready to show this world who I am and what I like to think I am capable of.
Room 029 is full of memories and friendships and hundreds and hundreds of hours of laughter. I will always remember the themed food days (my favorite was breakfast). That potato cooker. The inside jokes not-so-secretly plastered on the walls in carefully chosen fonts. The passive aggressive (or sometimes just aggressive) notes we leave to one another.
Of course, there are some things I won’t miss. The greasy microwave. The empty popcorn bags strewn about the room. The bright blue cabinets that have been here for decades. Arriving in the morning to find a dead mouse on the floor. The fact that no matter how much I sweep and declutter, this room never really feels clean.
It’s easy to feel like something terrible is happening as these last few days of high school fly by and my time with The Register dwindles. By the time this column is published, I’ll have been finished with The Register for a few days. I’ll miss this publication more than I would like to admit. I’ll be watching, from college in a year, and from who knows where in ten.
Unlike my co-editor, and unlike most former editors of The Register, I don’t have my heart set on a career in journalism. It’s a hard industry to get into and I’m not sure I’m good enough to do it. But the thought of cutting myself off from journalism right now makes my stomach ache, and I hope to continue my career in journalism and in writing if my college newspaper will take me.
Though journalism might not be my calling in life, it does teach you the most essential and cliché life skills that most extracurriculars boast, like time management and teamwork. But it offers so much more. The incredible feeling created by putting together a publication can create a community out of any group- even our wonderfully diverse and weird newspaper staff.
Every day I’m proud to call myself the Editor of this publication. I’m so proud of our staff and the students at Central who help make this newspaper so great. Without you, we wouldn’t have anything to write about. We wouldn’t have anything to discuss, to celebrate or to complain about.
Every year on Thanksgiving, winter, or spring break our seniors from years past return to 029, stomping down the concrete steps to visit for a few minutes (or sometimes hours) as they return home from college. I am both excited and nervous to join the community of Register alum that longs for its days in this newspaper room and eagerly comes back every year. I am convinced that no other Central activity has such a high return rate.
The family that I was given because of The Register is the best gift I have been given by Central High School. If I’m lucky, I hope to find a similar group in college or in my career. Until then, I’ll keep hanging around 029. I’m not quite ready to leave.