SuperHappyFunTimeNews

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of working with a local Girl Scouts troop to obtain their media badge. One of their advisors is a professor at Drury and I guess my job as Editor-in-Chief of The Mirror came up in the conversation between her and another professor, who recommended my expertise (thank you Dr. Waters!).

The girls were working on putting together a publication – they wrote their own stories, gathered photos and brainstormed about what they want the magazine to look like. Honestly, I was expecting something different from middle school-aged girls, but I was pleasently surprised. The girls decided they wanted to do something that would make people happy and promote the good people do. The end result? SuperHappyFunTimeNews!

So, each girl picked her own real-life hero to write about. Ashley interviewed a fire chief and a veterinarian. Caitlyn wrote about her grandmother, Brenda. Kira wrote about Sacajawea being the only woman member of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Brooke wrote about Temple Granden. And Makayla wrote about one of her teachers – Mrs. Parrish.

Two hours of hard work later, we had an awesome issue of SuperHappyFunTimeNews (check out the PDF here). I am so incredibly proud of their work and it was a great escape from my ordinary daily duties.

If you know me, then you you know I am a huge advocate of working with young women on self-esteem and encouraging education and innovation to follow your dreams. Over the years, I’ve had the honor of having so many amazing mentors and role models who encouraged me to dream big and work through my insecurities and weaknesses. So, I dedicate my life to doing the same and paying it back to other young woman. This is just one tiny step towards achieving this goal.

Here are a few photos from throughout the evening.

-YB

Inside Marie Claire

My first year of college in my business foundations class I did a presentation on my dream job – a fashion magazine editor. I went all out with a 3-D posterboard with a lady and a fancy dress made of actual fabric and yarn for hair and bold red lipstick to match. In hindsight, it was probably a lot like a semi-grown up craft project and I probably should have stuck with a PowerPoint like everyone else, but then I never do anything like anyone else, so why should have this project beent he exception?

The point is, I’ve dreamed of being an editor of a magazine since I was a little girl and discovered magazines. Being editor of my campus newspaper has been a fascinating learning experience so far and reminds me almost daily why I find this career so fascinating. I’m still not sure if I want to make it my entire career or something I do in passing in my career, but I do know that I want to do it, someday.

Epic Fail.

I have officially failed as an editor. Last week’s paper went out on newsstands with a big, fat typo…in the main headline. I literally cried when I realized what happened.

The worst part? This issue kicked ass otherwise – even the main story with the misspelled title was really good (Drury getting involved with Extreme Home Makeover in Joplin in October). Plus, we had some really good articles inside – from baking biscotti in an hour to an exclusive preview of Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin’s upcoming new album. All that was overshadowed by one big, fat typo.

Editor-in-chief: Take Two

Our first official issue of the Mirror went out on newsstands on Friday. And if I do say so myself, it looks great! The entire staff put in a lot of hard work and it shows in the stories, photos and the layout. I feel like it’s my baby – I was so excited to see it in print and on newsstands that I literally did a little happy dance.

In this issue we did stories on how the debt ceiling affects college students, safety on campus, updates on campus additions/construction, a new program on campus renting camping gear to students at a discount price, and a few more smaller pieces and columns. From my perspective as editor, I thought it was a good mix of serious and fun pieces.

I’ve gotten quite a few compliments on the new layout and on the content, and I’m hoping to keep up this momentum for the rest of the year in order to raise more interest in the paper on campus and increase our readership. It’s a huge undertaking and at times it’s quite intimidating, but other times, the challenge is exhilarating. I really do enjoy all the aspects of being editor-in-chief and really think that this may be something I would like to pursue as a career.

Here is the rest of this issue: