28 Nov 2012
When I arrived for my first semester at the University of North Texas, I felt like I had been reduced to a number. Coming from a high school graduating class no more than 90 strong, the sea of 37,000 students at UNT felt like another world entirely.
But working at the Daily opened my eyes and allowed me to see that our campus is about something greater than crowds of students shuffling from class to class. UNT is a diverse and culturally aware institution with a serious emphasis on student involvement.
In addition to student organizations and opportunities for involvement, there are always new things happening at UNT to watch. From the Union renovation plans and the delayed opening of the Apogee Bridge, to the Mean Green’s last season in the Sun Belt Conference and important alumnus accomplishments, this fall has kept us busy.
But our readers don’t live in a big green bubble, and neither do we – the 2012 Presidential campaigns and November election gave us an opportunity to cover important national news, as well as explore how these events impacted the students on this campus.
The writers, editors, photographers and designers working for this paper share a passion for telling stories, particularly the ones that might otherwise never be heard. They sacrifice their evenings all semester for a chance to see what real journalism is all about, and they do it tirelessly, often while tackling a full load of classes at the same time.
My favorite part of this job was hearing from writers about the moment they were struck by new story ideas. Whether they were driving to campus, walking to class or talking to a friend when the idea appeared, these writers thought of something we had never written about before.
These were the stories we were most excited to share with our readers, and the energy our writers put towards stimulating your curiosity this semester is what drives this paper forward.
Things weren’t always easy this semester, though. Towards the end of October, we attempted to make strides to improve our online presence, but our website was compromised. In order to keep your computers safe from viruses and malware, we were forced to take the site offline.
This certainly put a bit of a dent into our plans to redesign our online delivery, but the staff continued to impress me by brainstorming ideas for a brand new website – and I believe you’ll be impressed when we come back online.
I am grateful for the time I’ve had here as editor-in-chief, and I’d like to thank every member of our staff who always tried harder when they knew we could be even better. Our faculty adviser, Kathie Hinnen, is one reason why we’re confident that we can do this job over again every night.
I’d like to thank our past editors I’ve worked for and worked with, and it’s obvious at this point that everything they taught me prepared me for my job now.
Most of all, I’d like to thank you for reading. The late nights we spent in this office were always worth it when I saw students reading the Daily on campus, and I hope we were able to give you a closer connection to the great world at UNT.
