Graduation Issue 2022

The minute I came to Northwestern, I knew I wanted to join The Daily. I remember at an event during Wildcat Welcome, the first-years in the Medill School of Journalism were told to write down a goal they wanted to achieve before graduating. I wrote that I wanted to be editor in chief of The Daily. I never achieved that goal and honestly, I’m proud of myself for never trying to reach it. 

When I joined The Daily, I was welcomed by development and recruitment editors who encouraged me to try new things and pointed me to resources to find out information I did not know. I saw people around me writing amazing stories, many of them not a part of the paper’s editorial board or upperclassman. I saw this as a place for me to grow with people who supported my efforts and wanted to help in any way possible. Soon, I threw away my dream of being EIC as I realized the value that other members of the editorial board also have. I served two quarters as a diversity and inclusion chair, one of the roles I’m most proud of.  I was also a development and recruitment Editor and helped bring in new writers to the paper (many of whom are in editorial positions now). 

I was able to meet many incredible Daily staffers and community members through those roles, and have taken away so many lessons from them. Through these positions, I learned it takes a team to put a paper together, not just the editor in chief. I found working at The Daily to be a collaborative space where I’ve been able to lean on my peers for guidance. While that is not the case in every newsroom, I’m grateful to have been able to foster a culture where people are not scared to make mistakes and are not expected to know everything. 

Some of those late nights in the newsroom and in my apartment, I felt more like a machine than a journalist or student. I spent some time away from the paper and decided to delve deeper into other interests and opportunities. A part of me always took the paper so seriously because sometimes it can feel like one mistake will bring down the paper. Being a paper for the community is such a huge responsibility given to young adults and I didn’t want to let people down. I placed a lot of pressure on myself to do right by the paper that many times I would forget about my own capacity or push them to the side. 

Through these times where I needed to take breaks and figure out what I really wanted to take away from my college experience, I was always supported by the same people. Never once did I feel judged or thought less of because of the amount of stories I was producing. Although my freshman year self might be confused as to why I never pursued EIC, I’m very proud of my journey at The Daily. 

Email: [email protected] 

Twitter: @janeaAwilson