Miguel OHara
So I just found out that the Viking Vanguard, my high school's newspaper, won fifth place in the best of show competition at Nationals.
I was on the Vanguard all three years of high school and I was the Editor-in-Chief my senior year. That year was interesting, because I was the only returning staff member from the previous year and our Advisor had just returned from a year-long hiatus. So it was considered a "building year" - excluding a few people, our entire staff was made up of inexperienced Sophomores. Needless to say, we didn't do so hot. The Vanguard has a reputation for being one of the best scholastic publications in the state, but we didn't win a single award. It was normally a 12-page newspaper, but we could only pull off eight.
I'm happy for them, I really am. You might even say that I'm proud. A good number of those inexperienced Sophomores are now running the show and doing a bang-up job.
But it feels like I was denied. Before I showed up, Vanguard kicked a**. My Sophomore year the publication was still doing pretty well, but I was only a reporter and that was only for half a year. My Junior year I was the News Editor and the staff basically had to do everything on its own, because we had an Advisor that didn't really know what he was doing. Then came Senior Year, which was probably one of the worst years the publication had ever experienced.
Now that I've graduated, Vanguard finally returns to its old glory.
I also feel like I didn't do enough as the Chief. While I realize it was a "building year," I had a staff comprised of the same people that just won fifth at Nationals. Was I not dedicated enough? Am I not a good enough leader? Am I lazy?
I guess I'll have to remind myself that it was only High School and move on.
I was on the Vanguard all three years of high school and I was the Editor-in-Chief my senior year. That year was interesting, because I was the only returning staff member from the previous year and our Advisor had just returned from a year-long hiatus. So it was considered a "building year" - excluding a few people, our entire staff was made up of inexperienced Sophomores. Needless to say, we didn't do so hot. The Vanguard has a reputation for being one of the best scholastic publications in the state, but we didn't win a single award. It was normally a 12-page newspaper, but we could only pull off eight.
I'm happy for them, I really am. You might even say that I'm proud. A good number of those inexperienced Sophomores are now running the show and doing a bang-up job.
But it feels like I was denied. Before I showed up, Vanguard kicked a**. My Sophomore year the publication was still doing pretty well, but I was only a reporter and that was only for half a year. My Junior year I was the News Editor and the staff basically had to do everything on its own, because we had an Advisor that didn't really know what he was doing. Then came Senior Year, which was probably one of the worst years the publication had ever experienced.
Now that I've graduated, Vanguard finally returns to its old glory.
I also feel like I didn't do enough as the Chief. While I realize it was a "building year," I had a staff comprised of the same people that just won fifth at Nationals. Was I not dedicated enough? Am I not a good enough leader? Am I lazy?
I guess I'll have to remind myself that it was only High School and move on.
