PORTFOLIO FALL 2020
MAX SOTELO
In my second-to-last semester of this class I have learned exponentially more about production than I ever learned in the four years that I have been a part of the school publications. One thing on my mind this semester was the concept of the clause of force majeure . Force majeure is a common clause in contracts that essentially frees both parties from liability or obligation when an extraordinary event or circumstance beyond the control of the parties. So many routines, ways of life, things that would be considered normal in the old world have been completely altered by this force majeure (COVID-19). School coming back in session and posting stories to the online newspaper forced me to learn FLOW. I did not understand how FLOW worked until September. I worked on an updated 2020 InDesign program. Even though I was someone people turned to for help, I still found myself needing help with things like this. I turned to other editors for their knowledge. Time was not real this year, therefore deadlines were not real. Deadlines for the print edition are a lot more serious and less flexible than online deadlines, and I knew this and am thankful that everybody else understood this. I worked extremely well under all different sorts of pressure this year. There was pressure on me to make sure students finished their articles on time, pressure to coordinate almost every aspect of production, and so many other little things I felt like I had to take care of. It was surprising how well I handled all of this on top of working 30 hours a week and all my other high school and college classes. This semester was monumental for many reasons. Looking back at this semester in a few years, I feel I will admire my ability to adapt and rise in the face of challenges and pitfalls. Something I got to experience firsthand was the destruction of any sort of certainty or structure I believed my life once had. Every day of this semester was simply a mystery, and I learned to live with that. Most days I had a positive outlook and a good attitude. I was able to keep the classroom running and operational. However, there were a few moments I felt so overwhelmed by uncertainty and things that were out of my control. There were times I felt like my spirit was broken. I learned to accept this feeling, and realize that it was okay to not have all the answers. One challenge of this semester was not having advisers in the classroom. All I could do in this situation was adapt and move on. The other editors in chief and I had to take on the role of editor, peer, and adviser all at the same time. Nobody knew what they were doing. I acted like I did, but the reality was I just knew how to keep things under control. Keeping things under control such as the class, making sure interviews were finished and helping people write articles. This semester taught me huge lessons in being direct and assertive. Next semester I hope to be more involved. I will be taking one less college class to devote more of my time to the newspaper. I did a great job managing my time between work and school and newspaper this semester, but I just want to stress less over time next semester. I came into this semester with the right amount of experience. This semester was definitely not what I expected it to be. I expected it to be easy without advisers, but it was definitely challenging at times. I am better prepared for next semester because of this, though. In my position in this class, I learned I I had to quickly become organized. I kept an agenda and organized all my thoughts, ideas and plans for the day in it. This helped keep me organized. Not only did this semester help me realize my true potential in this class, but it also taught me so many lessons I will carry with me for the rest of my life. I now know I have a strong ability to adapt to challenging situations.
R E FIRST F L E C T I O N
In many ways, the last three years in newspaper prepared me for the role of a lifetime that I never expected to take on. I did not think I had this sort of leadership ability in me. This year has given me many moments I will remember for the rest of my life. One moment in particular was on the first day of in-person instruction, September 9th, when it hit me. The spirit of leadership I did not know I had just ignited inside me and I was set on my way through my first serious leadership position. Before this semester, I did not see myself becoming the type of dedicated leader I saw in past editors in chief. I was expecting to just be working quietly in the back most of the year on the online website and that would be it. The reality was much different from my expectations. However, without the circumstances of this year, I would not have realized I was born to be a leader. I took inspiration from all the different leaders and some of my peers that have touched my life. In my leadership style, I channeled Ms. Hart’s compassion, my manager from work’s attention to detail, and Grace’s creativity. In the online paper, I was responsible for uploading finished articles. This was a problem when some articles just were not done or well written. Some stories simply never got published. Shifting to the print version was a relief because writers had more time to write their articles. And the editors and I just paid more attention to them. I was relieved when it was decided we would return to uploading stories on the drive rather than on FLOW. FLOW was not my favorite program to work with. If the circumstances change and we end up online again, I would make sure to pay more attention to online articles. Working with my peers this year was different from any other year. I was one of the people students turned to for help writing an article, and editors would ask me for help editing their pages. I was with Julia and Grace at the top of the editorial positions in the paper, and I realized very early on that I did not really care about being popular as much as I may have used to. Without an adviser there to guide students, it was almost like I took on the role of the adviser in the classroom, and I knew I had to gain respect and establish my authority in this class as one of the editors in chief. Sometimes it felt like people expected me to do something about their grades by the way they came and approached me about their grade. I had struggles in the past with being too nice and passive, but a switch flicked this year that made me more assertive. It was necessary to be assertive in order to keep the class under control and ensure people were actually working. I noticed that almost everyone in this class had their own little group they liked to work with and be friends with. Even though I did not have this, I still had no trouble getting along with everyone in the class.
SECO
OND REFLECTION This semester I had to sacrifice socializing with my peers in order to deal with newspaper business, and I was okay with this. I still recognized the importance of being friendly with the staff and editors. This semester I felt more like a teacher than a student, and I loved it. I need to say it again: I never thought I had that sort of leadership potential in me and this semester helped me see a whole new side of myself. I never thought of myself as really a “leader” before this semester. I didn’t want to be a leader because I thought it meant you had less fun and more stress. And yes, it was stressful at times, but I actually found myself enjoying it. I had to learn that as a leader, you cannot make everyone happy. I struggled in the past with trying too hard to please everyone. This year I had to realize that the circumstances were not ideal for anyone, so the most I could was try to lead this class to the best of my ability. Part of this was letting go of my past ways of trying to make everyone happy. One specific challenge was on the day the first print edition of the newspaper dropped and Principal Vining did not allow us to place it on lunch tables. It was heartbreaking to have something we worked so hard on be shut down like that. Mostly I felt bad for the students in the class who did not get to experience that joy of having their work out for everyone to see. In a pack of wolves, the absolute last one is the leader. I think this is because they have the ability to see all members of the pack and protect them all from an attack. The leader leads from the back to see the path ahead and tell the rest of the wolves where to go. It is the leader’s job to take care of everyone.
THIRD
REFLECTION
My most sign ing, the new p this story and view him. Th class became Then for the to put the new writing the st I had to get a were dated an which decisio But then in D closing school My first inter questions. Th tions I asked In the finishe of his intervie
nificant work this semester was my article on Mr. Vinprincipal. At the beginning of the year, I was assigned d I was very excited to be able to meet him and interhe school reopened for in-person instruction and this so hectic I did not have time to continue this story. December issue of the paper, they decided they wanted w principal story in the paper so I agreed to continue tory. another interview with him. First of all, the questions nd were more made for the topic of reopening school, for ons were all said and done in December. December, there were new questions being raised about l again, so I asked some questions about this. rview was also terrible because I just did not ask good he second time around, I was very pleased with the quesand the answers he gave. ed product, I liked how it was very easy to write because ew answers.