EMILY SIBLEY
PORTFOLIO 2017
EMILY SIBLEY
Kelly Tilson, Odyssey Yearbook Advisor Redlands East Valley High School 31000 E Colton Ave, Redlands, CA 92374 May 11, 2017 Mrs. Tilson, My name is Emily Sibley and I am looking to apply for the REV Odyssey 2017-2018 Head Editor position. After such an enjoyable year of being a part of the Odyssey stuff, I would like to pursue another year and continue to make new friends and build on my previous design knowledge to create a successful yearbook. I believe that I am qualified for this position as I have the necessary skills of design, organization, and experience on the Odyssey staff and I also bring a unique set of skills that would benefit the program, such as leadership and determination. I have been designing yearbooks since my 7th grade year at Moore Middle School, where I learned how to create original layouts, take interesting pictures, and work together with my classmates to advertise our book. I was selected to be the Editor-In-Chief the following year and helped to develop the theme, design the master layouts that everyone would follow, and I also helped to work along with the video production class to produce advertisements that we filmed for our video bulletin. I also learned very important skills during my two years in Moore’s yearbook, such as how to cooperate with a partner that was reluctant to do their own portion of our shared project and how to be a better leader that helps to compile the ideas of everyone yet still make an executive decision. In the past year at REV, I have become more familiar with the financial process of the yearbook as well as the many aspects that were previously taken care of by my yearbook advisor, such as the submission process, scheduling deadlines around the yearbook ladder, and proofing pages after initial submission. I have also furthered my skills in designing in Adobe InDesign and creating mature and interesting layouts. I feel this makes me a qualified candidate as I have knowledge and experience that others may not and I understand the responsibility and dedication that a yearbook requires. Another characteristic that would make me the ideal Head Editor is my hardworking, positive attitude and leadership characteristics. I have been on a volleyball team since I was twelve years old, and I have made it a goal to regularly attend practice so that I can improve and better myself, and I never miss practice just because “I don’t feel like it.” I have been a team captain several times in both school and in club and that as a captain I should be encouraging my team to or goal by being a good example rather than bossing people around. Volleyball has also taught me that it it must be a team effort in order to succeed, but at the same time one individual can still have a large impact on the goal. I believe that I should give 110 percent in whatever I do, whether it be in sports or in academics, and to always do my best in order to be successful at any goal I may pursue. Choosing someone that has the numerous qualities that are required of the Head Editor of a yearbook is an extremely daunting task, but I believe I am a qualified candidate that will help the Odyssey yearbook to thrive and be the best it can be. Thank you for looking at my resume and for considering me for this position. Sincerely, Emily Sibley
EMILY SIBLEY
OBJECTIVE To become the Head Editor for the 2017-2018 REV Odyssey Yearbook and improve my skills in design and leadership.
EXPERIENCE -Moore Middle School Video Production member (2011-2012) -Moore Middle School Yearbook staff member (2012-2013) -Moore Middle School Editor-in-Chief (2013-2014) -REV Odyssey Yearbook Managing Editor (2016-2017) -Proficient in Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator -Proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
EDUCATION Completed 2 years at Redlands East Valley High School, graduation June 2018 Unweighted GPA: 4.00 Weighted GPA: 4.43 Related Courses: AP English Language and Composition, Honors English 9 & 10, Video Production (20112012), Journalism (2012-2013, 2013-2014), Yearbook (2016-2017)
ACTIVITIES Assisteens- provides community service in Redlands and teaches leadership skills with board positions; Membership Chairman (2012-2016), Vice Chairman (2016-2017) Volleyball- school and club levels require teamwork and leadership; team captain for club (2013, 2014, 2015) and for school (2014, 2016)
AWARDS Journalism Excellence Award (2014) Reflections State Runner Up for Video Production (2014)
REFERNECES Denise Freeman, Moore Yearbook Adivsor, denise_freeman@redlands.k12.ca.us Tammy McCarty, Assisteens Advisor, tammy2456@gmail.com Sarai Stamper, Yucaipa Soccer Coach (client for video), sarai_stamper@ycjusd.us
SELF-ANALYSIS
THE TRANSITION FROM MIDDLE SCHOOL to high school was a reality check for me as I realized that the decisions I would make and the classes I would take would affect and shape my future. As far as electives went, I wanted to do something that I had an interest in and to learn something that would help me in the future. I loved helping to create the yearbook for 2 years at my middle school so yearbook in high school was a definite option, but REV also offered a video production class which has been a passion of mine since elementary school. When the video production class was no longer an option my freshman an sophomore year, I decided that going back to what I knew would be the best option since I had such a great experience in middle school. It couldn’t be that different, right? On the day of my interview I was petrified, despite knowing that I had experience as both a staff member and as the the Editor in Chief in kmiddle school, and I came out of the interview with the impression that I had done terribly. However, I was wrong as I was given the position of Managing Editor with no high school yearbook experience, and for once I was happy that I had been wrong. Even on my first day on the job, I learned so many new aspects behind the yearbook. For one, there was planning. In middle school, the ladder and deadlines for a yearbook are usually established by the advisor, so I was suprised (and a bit overwhelmed) when I was assigned to work with the Head Editor to decide what each and every page of the yearbook would be about and what order it would go in. I also learned how to manage which set of pages would be sent to the company at certain times throughout the year. My design style and abilities also improved vastly throughout the year as our theme had a more refined and mature style, which helped me to fine tune my “design eye.” Figuring out how to use Adobe InDesign was also a large hurddle for me as I had no experience with the program. The first day we were asked to design a layout, I struggled with how to use the program to convey the design that I had wanted. The perfectionist that I am was disappointed when my design seemed elementary when compared to the other designers, but I continued to practice whenever I was given time and, with help from my classmates, I quickly learned the program. Now I can create whatever intricate design that I can come up with and do it with ease. Throughout the year, I also developed extremely important social skills that I will use in the future. I’ve always been a team player, but this year taught me how to compromise everyone’s ideas and still make an executive decision that benefis the majority such as when we developed our theme. Selling business ads was also a new experience as I go to talk with real companies and make a pitch for them to partner with us so that our yearbook could succeed. Being flexible was a huge part of my yearbook experience as well as we had to change our theme after a summer of developing a differnet one and pages were often dropped when we didn’t have material for them or an event was dropped. Also, I furthered my leadership skills as I helped to run meetings, make decisions, and even resolve conflicts by motivating staff members who were less inclined to work. I have learned so many new social skills that will help me in any leadership position I may choose. Overall I have watched myself improve as a whole and work towards being a strong individual. This class has developed skills that I ccan use whether I decide to create and run my own private office as a chiropractor, or whether I go into the film business and need organization and creative ideas. This class is definitely a highlight of my year. I loved making so many new friends this year as well and getting to know so many people, both upper and lower classmen that I may have never gotten the opportunity to meet. I also look forward to watching people get their amazing yearbook that they will chersih forever. I can confidently say that I have loved my experience on the Odyssey Yearbook this year and hope to continue my career and create memories that will last a lifetime.
AS THE MANAGING EDITOR of the 2016-2017 Odyssey Yearbook, I played an important role to the staff and in the publication and also devoted much of my time to it, both inside and outside of class. My job required me to assist the Head Editor in deciding what our theme for the year would be. In addition to that, we also were responsible for developing each section and listing what each one would entail. We spent many days during the summer and the first few weeks of the school year creating the ladder and writing which event would go on which page that would create the perfect flow. I was also responsible with helping to come up with the majority of the book’s design and it can be seen in the master pages, the title page, the Hagar Awards, and the final few pages. I helped inspire the master pages used throughout the whole book, and I even created pages from scratch with new and interesting ideas. Another important job that I highly valued was proofing pages, both copy and design. For example, we made a change to the folio after the master pages were made and I helped to make sure that it was changed on every page throughout the whole year. Many layouts tended to be changed as well either due to mistake or page requirements, and I helped to ensure continuity and alter certain pages so that they did not disrupt the flow of the book. I spent many hours in the classroom both during lunch and intervention when many other classmates were not here. This allowed me to get ahead on my own pages so that I could assist others who were falling behind. It also proved helpful when pages needed to be changed last minute and I was availiable to quickly make the alterations so that they would be submitted on time. Also, my extra time spent outside of class helped my classmates to be assured that I would fufill my duties so that their work would ot be hindered and the staff as a whole could be successful and create an outstanding yearbook. Being the Managing Editor was a large task as I was seen as one of the many leaders in my class, but I am glad that I was able to rise to the occasion and work alongside them to create our masterpiece this year.
REFLECTION 2
REFLECTION 3
I AM VERY FORTUNATE that there were few problems this year because of our awesome staff, but we still had a few bumps and situations along the way. One of the problems we faced early in the year was a theme change. Callie and I had worked so hard to develop our original theme Balancing Opposites, however the staff decided that the theme United As One, would be more fit once the beginning of the year came along. Both Callie and I worked very hard in the following weeks to go back and tweak copy and designs so that we could still have an award-winning book at the end of the year. I learned that it is okay if plans change and that if you keep an open mind, you can overcome any challenge that may come your way. Another issue that I faced this year was when a staff member did not want to go and get information for me that was vital for me to complete my task. They were not doing anything so I kindly asked them to carry out the assisgnment, but after several attempts they still failed to do so. I continued to ask them to fufill the assignment, and finally when they remarked that they did not know where to go, which was unacceptable as they were a sophomore that new the campus, I was very stern and directed them directly to the office so that they could complete the task. I learned that you have to be stern sometimes when people are not doing what they are supposed to do, and next time I will ask nicely but be more stern quicker than before. My experience in yearbook has taught me skills that I will be able to use in my carrer and life. One of my perosnal goals throughout the years has been to not stress and be able to roll with change and challenges, and a changing theme has helped me to advance towards my goal of minimal stress. I am generally a very sweet person who likes to not stir up trouble or problems but my incident with one of my classmates has helped me to learn to be stern and speak up when something needs to be done.
MY MAIN GOALS for this year were to help to produce a yearbook that was modern and better than any yearbook at REV in the past and make friends and enjoy the year with them. Design-wise, both the yearbooks for my freshman and sophomore year seemed simple and elementary to me when compared to what I had seen before. I was also shocked that many of the captions were boring and said things like, “A girl runs” and “The boy hits the tennis ball” ans one of my goals was to make sure that the book as a whole seemed like it was produced and made for high schoolers. The first way that I worked to create a better yearbook was by spending time on what I was working on. By doing this I was able to create finer details, understand the overall impression of my page, and catch small errors and typos that rushing I wouldhave missed. I also pushed myself out of my own comfort zone with certain designs like the Hagar Award pages in order to take the book to a whole new level of design that was unique and modern, yet still read like a normal yearbook would. On all the copy that I wrote I tried to get the story beind the picture so that the captions would not only be informatve, but interesting. Both of these methods helped us to create a stunning book that I am proud to say that I am a part of. Another goal of mine was to make friends and participate in the social aspect of the yearbook so I could have fun throughout the year. Coming into the class, I only knew two people, and I really wanted to get to know every student or at least be familiar with them. At our beginning-of the-year Disneyland trip I worked hard to talk to the first person I saw and didn’t know, and I ended up becoming close friends with one of our freshman. We rode every ride together and I also got really close with the other staff as we all stayed together after the tour. This helped us to work well together throughout the entire year and to have fun while doing it. I believe that I successfully accomplished both of my goals this year, and I wouldn’t change anything about either one.
REFLECTION 4
REFLECTION 5 - DESIGN THE HAGAR AWARDS layout is one of my biggest accomplishments layout-wise this year as I had to push myself outside of my comfort zone to work on fitting rectangular pictures into triagngles of different shapes and sizes while still making it possible for people to fully see the pictures. One of the first challenges that I ran into was fitting rectangular pictures into multiple triangles. I had to change the triangles many times so that they still moved towards the center of the page but also made the subjects visible. When I couldn’t make the pictures fill the triangles completely, I filled in the rest of the triangle with purple since it complemented the picture backgrounds and kept the triangle shape. It was also difficult to make sure the pictures always lined up and were the same proportions as the other pictures so people didn’t end up with unusually large body parts. The number of triangles on each page, the inner white triangles that are on top of the other triangles, and the spacing between the triangles constantly changed throughout the entire process as well.
Another problem we faced was the organization of the photoshoots for the pictures. Some of the winners were either not present or decided to not show up to the shoot, so I had to come up with unique ideas for those photos. For example, it was quite ironic that the girl who won most stubborn decided not to show up, so I learned how to use photoshop to place a silhouette in the background of the photo. We also had to stage several photos outside of the shoot, so I helped to pose them so that they would easily fit into the triangles. I am extremely happy with how the pages turned out despite all of the roadblocks that we encountered throughout the process. It is unique, innovative, and fits in well with our overall theme.
REFLECTION 5 - DESIGN
THIS PAGE of mine could use some improvements as the page is somewhat bland when compared to the rest of the book and, due to time constraints, the copy for this page is not as sophisticated as I would like. We used master pages for the basis of our layouts, but I wish that I could have added in another design aspect such as a picture for the background or made the pictures a little bit bigger so that they filled the page a little more. There were not as many photos either, so the layouts we could use were limited, and I wish the photographers would have taken a few more photos from different angles so that the pictures would not all look completely the same. The copy for this page was underpar as I tried to write some without having too much knowledge about the event for the copywriter could not fully complete the assignment due to lack of information. Even though it was not originally my job, I wish I would have had the time to try to add information from people who were in the show or somehow find the results and more specifics about the show. Even though the page looks decent, I wish I could have done more to make it outstanding.
CLIPS
What’s Mine: Design
Photos
Copy
CLIPS
What’s Mine: Design
Photos
Copy
CLIPS
What’s Mine: Design
Photos
Copy
Graphics
CLIPS
What’s Mine: Design
Photos
Copy