Hi, my name is Susan Welte. I like Abraham Lincoln, Harry Potter and the color pink. I run track and cross country and sort of get a panic attack each semester when I wait for my grades to be posted on BuzzIn. Oh, and I’m the new editor-in-chief of The Bulletin for the 2013-2014 school year.
But who am I, really? What gives me the right to call myself the leader of “the students’ voice?” Well, those are good questions.
My interest in journalism began when I started following in my sister’s footsteps by joining the yearbook staff at my high school, Kapaun Mt. Carmel. Although, I’m not really sure if you could have called it an “interest” back then. My friends ranted on and on about, “OMG, like, how great is journalism? I love it so much. Let’s all major in it in college. Okay? Okay.”
To be honest, I hated high school journalism, and I thought I had said, “Sayonara!” to it when I polished off my last story for the yearbook.
I was wrong.
When I got to college two years ago, I was frantically searching for a job on campus, hoping to find something to work with my class schedule and not make me miserable. I applied as a staff writer for The Bulletin only reluctantly – my mom made me.
But as soon as I picked up my notepad and recorder, I knew my relationship with news reporting had changed and wasn’t going to fade away any time soon.
The Bulletin has given me more opportunities than I am able to count on both hands. Journalism transformed me from a former shy-girl-who-sits-in-the-back-of-class-and-never-talks kind of student to an outgoing young woman who knows her way around campus and isn’t afraid to ask the tough questions.
My hands were shaking when I dove back into journalism with my first story at ESU. Now, I’ve reported on everything from Gov. Sam Brownback visiting campus to a 73-year-old non-traditional student with a passion for creative writing. I’ve also been able to make connections with faculty, staff and fellow students across different areas of campus.
When all is said and done, I am ecstatic to be in charge of this 113-year-old student publication (even if, before this, the only thing I’ve ever been in charge of was my goldfish, Phyllis). It’s not just about what this publication can do and has done for me, but what I can do to give back to the campus community.
The Bulletin prides itself on being “the students’ voice,” and that’s exactly what I want people who read this paper to hear. In the words of the mighty Miley Cyrus, “This is our house. This is our rules.”
Let’s make a promise to each other as members of our campus community. The Bulletin is completely ours – let’s keep it that way. In order to represent the students of ESU, The Bulletin wants to form a closer relationship with those whom we are representing.
My door is always open, and every opinion is vital to our growth as a publication and a university. If we are able communicate, there’s (hopefully) no way we can misinterpret each other. If we do that, we can make this a great year for the Hornet population, E-State Squirrels included.
