This is my fourth semester at Emporia State and my second as editor-in-chief. Even though I have previous experience as an editor, last semester was particularly challenging. We’ve been dealing with some major budget cuts over the last few years and it has now fallen on me to brainstorm ways to save us money without sacrificing necessities. 

Rarely does anyone see the work put in behind the scenes at The Bulletin. 

Because we are an independent publication, it’s my responsibility to make major business and editorial decisions. I also hire everyone, train everyone, curate story ideas, write articles, take photos, edit every single thing we publish and so much more. 

Could you imagine having to deal with all of that while also being a full time student? Let me tell you, it’s not easy. I spend nearly 50 hours a week working and going to classes. That’s a lot of time on campus. 

However, I would not be successful in my classes without my work. Journalism has been an integral part of my life since I was a sophomore in high school and it’s been a passion of mine since then. So please trust me when I say I love my job, because I really do. 

I love working with my staff. I love getting to help them learn and watch them grow. I love getting to see the amazing things students are doing across campus. I love getting to cover Associated Student Government, the ESU community and everything else in between. 

While our final work is on public display, rarely does anyone see or know what’s really going on at The Bulletin. To help improve public understanding and help show exactly what happens on before the final product, my editors will be writing opinions every week, similar to this one, about their jobs and their importance to campus. 

There are also a couple other initiatives in the works to help showcase all the hard work put in by my staff on a daily basis, like potentially a video look into our production nights and maybe even a staffer of the week. I’m so excited to continue serving the community and I’m even more excited to showcase the passion we have here at The Bulletin. 

Though there so many things I love about my job, I must admit my job is really fucking hard. Everything I do is open to criticism. Every word, photo, graphic and decision I make is in public view and everyone has an opinion. My staff and I put in hours upon hours of work only for much of it to be torn piece-by-piece on Social Media. 

But man, do I love my job.