It is time for me to go. I cannot believe that it has come to this point in my time at DMACC.
It feels as if I just stepped on campus for the first time as a college student, but it has been two years and my time here has come to an end.
I first walked on campus Thursday, August 23, 2012. It was a refreshing first experience. I did not have high school security monitoring my every move. I could come and go as I pleased. I could leave and go somewhere for lunch; I had freedom!
I was warmly welcomed by my first college instructor, Mary, my drawing instructor.
I would become friends with many of my peers during my first semester. Students in my drawing, biology, composition one, art appreciation and sociology classes.
That first semester was amazing. I was not a high school student anymore and college was the place I where I could grow with fewer limits.
While signing up for my second semester for classes I needed to take the mass media class. The class was canceled due to low enrollment, so I decided I would take the newspaper production class instead.
The cancellation of the class may have been disappointing at the time, but it forever changed the rest of my time at DMACC.
I had read the paper and seen the “sad” layout and the need for more social media presence. I wanted to “like” the school paper on Facebook but I could not find it. I wanted to check out the website advertised on the newsstands but the website was non-existent.
My friend from my drawing class decided to join me on the newspaper staff. She missed the first day of class. I saw the editor walk into the newsroom where there was the professor. I looked on my schedule; it must be that Andrew Langager guy.
I was nervous; the editor, who I thought was a goofy-looking tall guy with long hair and a beard, walking around campus like he owned the place, was someone I would have to work for.
I came in and the editor, Nevin Cornwell, and adviser, Andy Langager, welcomed me warmly. Shortly after, other students started to make their way in. I met new friends and soon realized journalism was what I wanted to do.
That guy I thought was goofy looking and walked around campus like he owned the place soon became a friend that I consider to be the most important person to help me get to where I am today.
Nevin and I shared the same goals of wanting to spread our social media reach, get a website and create a better-looking newspaper with quality journalism.
We both put our all into the paper and nurtured it. We believed in the need for quality journalism at DMACC.
I really want to thank Nevin for the help and encouragement along the way. I would never have been so motivated to help transform the paper to be one that would be compared to newspapers at colleges like Drake, Grand View and Simpson.
I could not had done it either without Andy Langager. I have had my ups and downs with Andy, but it was all for the best. He helped me grow and even if I had to fall on my face and learn from stupid mistakes, he has been there and I respect the support he has given me along the way.
Andy has shown me that he cares. If he sees something off that I post on Twitter, he wasn’t afraid to text or email me asking if things are okay. He is someone I have a lot of respect for and wish more professors would have the same respect for their students as Andy does.
If you are considering joining the newspaper, you should! Plus, Andy is the added bonus!
I will be sad to leave Andy here at DMACC; I have even seen open positions for journalism instructors at Drake and I am trying to push him to apply, so when I am there next year I can keep taking classes for him. Unfortunately I don’t think that will happen. DMACC is his place and The Campus Chronicle can’t lose both Andy and I! It is already bad that I am leaving!
Andy has helped me during situations, from professors storming into the newsroom yelling and cursing at me to having to quickly write a story on an inspirational professor who had died in a car accident the day before we went to print.
The newspaper has not been the only activity I have been involved in. During my second semester I had the privilege to have Ronn Newby for introductory psychology.
Ronn is the chapter advisor for the Phi Theta Kappa honor society on campus. I joined the society and Ronn personally asked me to be the vice president of public relations for the chapter.
I was honored and I have had the privilege to visit many community colleges around the state of Iowa meeting friends I have met through PTK. Ronn and I have become close friends and I know that I can go to his office to “bitch” about the problems I have had all day.
Someone I could not have done it without it Dave Morgan. You might know him as Dave the Janitor, or Dave in Building 5, but to me he is Dave, my best friend.
I will be sad to leave and know that I will not have Dave at Drake to give me a little encouragement and a pat on the back.
Every DMACC student should get to know Dave. I have begged and begged him to let me do a profile on him for the newspaper. He does not want to recognition when there are so many other people that deserve the recognition. He is however, someone that is unique and has helped brighten hundreds of DMACC students through his years at DMACC.
He is such an amazing person that I do not think I could have made it through some days without the encouragement he has given.
Dave will be someone I will miss greatly. I have even tried to encourage him to try to find a job at Drake as well, but like Andy, DMACC is his home.
As I leave and walk across that stage on May 7 to receive my diploma, it symbolizes an end to a chapter of my life and the beginning of a new one.
I would like to thank some other that have helped shape my time here at DMACC.
President Denson has put up with my annoying calls begging him to tell me details on stories and has trusted me with giving me information that has to stay a secret until it is printed in the paper. It is also nice to have the president answer the phone when you call and say, “Let me tell you, you are going to make an amazing journalist one day.”
Dean of Arts and Sciences Jim Stick is such an amazing supporter of the newspaper. I can count on him to help me if an issue arises. He has also been amazing to check in with for story ideas and is someone I could spend hours talking to about DMACC! Thanks Dean Stick for being there to talk to!
I also have had many professors that have helped shape me to who I am today. Some, I may not have respected them at the time but today I have a lot of respect for them.
As I leave DMACC, the void of running The Campus Chronicle will need to be filled.
I plan on attending Drake University come fall and maybe I will join the Times-Delphic to fill the void that will be left.
I want to thank DMACC for everything it has done for me, both the good and the bad!
Finally, I want to thank everyone that has read the newspaper this year.
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