End of a Chapter
Adi Redzic
Issue date: 5/6/09 Section: Editors' Reflection
It is interesting how sometimes years need to go by before we understand certain events in our lives. Although I never fully understood the value of journalism-until I edited a newspaper, that is-my first experience with it was when in eight grade I tried to create a news-magazine for my school. To the surprise of my teachers, I wrote a 20-page publication of sorts, using Microsoft Word and margins so wide that I would not have to write too much. And excited I went off to present to my elementary school's principal on why it was that we needed a newspaper. Just keep in mind I was doing this only a few months after NATO finished its bombing of my country, known as Yugoslavia at the time, and I was presenting this to a guy who became the principal decades ago, and more because of his allegiance to the former Communist Party than anything else. So, you guessed it, my attempt failed.
Later on in high school, I even considered pursuing journalism as a career - but these thoughts soon evaporated once I realized that I had a talent for and took pleasure in "leading, with purpose." Nevertheless, I kept coming to journalism. My senior year in high school in the United States was marked with my writing and assisting in the journalism class. And then, as I mysteriously and quite unexpectedly found my way to St. Norbert, I was thrilled to have an opportunity to write for what I thought would be a splendid publication. Well, the first part was true, the second part less true, but it never occurred to me that only two years later I would embark upon a journey that was not only one of the most challenging but also one of the most rewarding in my life thus far.
It has not been easy building upon what many considered a dead newspaper, and facing a culture in which people's comfort level to deal with a vibrant, honest and challenging student publication was very low. Challenges that came-and continue to come-from the administration were numerous-and I trust that the dice of destiny played on our side by bringing us a journalist president will serve as a learning experience to all those who occasionally forget that the freedom of the press is what keeps us all safe and that intimidation will take you only so far. But as they say, what goes around comes around.
Later on in high school, I even considered pursuing journalism as a career - but these thoughts soon evaporated once I realized that I had a talent for and took pleasure in "leading, with purpose." Nevertheless, I kept coming to journalism. My senior year in high school in the United States was marked with my writing and assisting in the journalism class. And then, as I mysteriously and quite unexpectedly found my way to St. Norbert, I was thrilled to have an opportunity to write for what I thought would be a splendid publication. Well, the first part was true, the second part less true, but it never occurred to me that only two years later I would embark upon a journey that was not only one of the most challenging but also one of the most rewarding in my life thus far.
It has not been easy building upon what many considered a dead newspaper, and facing a culture in which people's comfort level to deal with a vibrant, honest and challenging student publication was very low. Challenges that came-and continue to come-from the administration were numerous-and I trust that the dice of destiny played on our side by bringing us a journalist president will serve as a learning experience to all those who occasionally forget that the freedom of the press is what keeps us all safe and that intimidation will take you only so far. But as they say, what goes around comes around.
Be the first to comment on this story