2018 Portfolio Morgan Reimer Life Editor
Self-Analysis This semester was my very first year as an editor. Like you could imagine, it was pretty crazy. I had almost no clue how to even work Indesign, but I was surrounded by my fellow editors, Mrs. Hart, and Adamson to help me out. Also this year, we had a whole new clan of staff writers to train. As a “pro,” I was ready to take the challenge. This year we really had to focus on teamwork. Last year we were a bit disconnected from the group, but this year I think we have a really tight bond. I really enjoy being a team leader, and have helped the underclassmen with the class, and with school. If I could do anything differently, I would try to get to know each of the staff writers instead of my main group. I am more of a “good cop” when it comes down to business, but if my articles are not done on time, they will have to face and angry Morgan. (No one wants to see an angry ginger) On that note, I have not had that many problems. I have gotten to know a lot of the writers, but I want them to feel more comfortable asking for help, and overall learning the journalistic style. It has been a really nice experience so far, and I cannot believe how fast this year has flown by. I practically learned as I went along when I began making my own pages for the first time. I relied a lot on Adamson on how to work the computer, photoshop, and the entirety of how the pages were supposed to look. It was a bit stressful at first, but now I know I can (mostly) build by pages by myself with some help along the way. By taking Newspaper alongside English 101, I have written and edited a lot of writing this semester. Although, I think that has made me a lot stronger with my skills. Ever since I first started, I have always known how to manage my time to get my work done when it needed to be. If not, I learned to communicate with my teachers and peers about the deadline days. In the future, I will be constantly checking up on the staff writers to make sure they are handling everything well. Journalism and writing ethics have always made me a bit nervous, which is why I always followed the rules. It sounds cheesy, but that is just the way I roll. If there happened to be a misunderstanding, I would explain everything on my part, and hopefully get it resolved. I believe I am very dedicated to our team and the class, though life always gets in the way. Because I was on the school team for volleyball, and I have club tournaments coming up, I have and will unfortunately miss some production days. Although, if this occurs, I plan it in my schedule to complete all of the work prior to when it is due, and make sure everything is organized for the paper. The main hardships I faced were not really within my deadlines, but the deadlines of others. As a first year editor with a year under my belt, we sort of expected the staff writers to complete work the same way. However, many of the writers finished their work very late, or not at all, which made things difficult when I was trying to form my pages. I learned to check in a lot more, and be prepared to help in any way. I feel like right now my greatest weakness are my computer skills. I have never been too tech-savvy, but this year was a challenge of me trying to work Indesign successfully. Throughout the semester, I had a lot of help learning how to work the computers, which made me feel better about it. Next semester, I am prepared to do my best with Indesign and help the staff writers further their writing even more.
Reflection # 1 This semester, I feel my most significant piece of work was the article entitled “Winter Wonderland.” I completed this article for the travel page, and it was really enjoyable to write. This was a new piece that I was excited to try because I had never written something like that before. I believe this is my best work because I put a lot of thought into each detail I wanted present in the story. It was titled “36 Hours in Arizona.” I looked up a few examples online, and wanted to try my own version for the paper. After trying this new format, I really loved looking up exciting places and writing tips for people who might travel there. In the end, I was very pleased with how it turned out. At first, the hardest part of writing this article was knowing how to begin. I have always struggled with this part of the writing process, but for this article, (once I thought of an idea) I stuck with it. Because I had never written something like this before, it took me longer to decide how I wanted it to turn out. Once I figured it out, I feel the structure of the article looked like one of the articles I found online, which was very cool. I think this changed a lot from beginning to end because it was a brand new format to practice on. In the beginning I started formatting it the way a regular article was written, but after researching and planning it out, I finally found the way I wanted it to look. When I first began, I thought it was going to be a regularly formed article, but it ended up being a unique and awesome article to write. This gave me an outside look of what future articles could look like, especially if I want to write like that for the future. I had to get used to not needing any interviews, because those provide good viewpoints and help with the word count. Although, once I started my research, I found many places I would want to travel to, which hopefully makes families travel to those places in the future. When I finished my article, my favorite parts were The Polar Express tour, and visiting the Grand Canyon. I searched for activities that were all in the general vicinity of each other, so families could do it all. When I am older, I want to do everything I can with writing, from screenwriting, to possibly travel writing. I liked getting to write something families could partake in together, which was an article I think could have an impact on people. With the finished product, it leaves families with choices and ideas for future trips they can do together. I really enjoyed the idea of a travel article, and I hope I can write more adventure stories in the future. With scheduled times and places to explore, different options and places to discover leave people with wonder. In the end, this article was a joy to write, and hopefully people will get to experience the activities that lay within the pages.
Reflection # 2 My first article that I was proud of was the article on Principal Swetter. (This was for the spotlight page in the September issue) I was sort of thrown into writing this article because of complications with another staff writer, but in the end, I was glad it happened. In the beginning, it was a bit nerve-wracking because I always get a little nervous before I interview someone, especially when this someone was the new principle. I got to know Mr. Swetter a lot better, and explain his new duties on campus. Every time I would walk through the gates, we would always exchange a friendly smile. When the article was finished, I was glad to write about Mr. Swetter’s personality, and hope the readers enjoyed it too.
My second article that I was proud of was my accepted article for the in-depth page. This was for the November issue of the paper. This particular article related to me, and about all of the editors because it was about getting accepted into college. It meant a lot to me to write because all of us were going through the same thing during that time. I covered the concepts of how to apply, and whether or not to take the ACT or SAT. I am proud of this piece because I enjoyed learning while writing this article. In the end, I feel everything I had wanted the article to be turned out really well.
My final article that I was proud of was my article on Sarah Weiss. I wrote this for the October issue for the news page, but it did not end up being used until the November issue. I was really excited to write this article because I had the chance to write in about one of my closest friends. I wrote about all of her greatest triumphs and hardest obstacles, and how she was handling the school year. In the end, she loved seeing her picture in the paper, and I felt extremely honored to get to feature her in the paper.
Tear Sheets Spotlight, page 15, Sept. 28, 2018
September
In depth, page 12, Nov. 16, 2018
November
News, page 3, Nov. 16, 2018
November
Travel, page 20, Dec. 21, 2018
December
Designs September
October
November
December