Moving on up in the small little world of The Vista

  For two-and-a-half years I have written a weekly column for the Arts & Culture section, and I had been editing the section for about two years, as I became the assistant A&C editor the first semester of my freshman year. The Arts & Culture section is like my first child, and now, in a backwards way, I have grown up and am moving on to bigger things. Next year I will be the Editor in Chief of The Vista as a whole.
     Arts & Culture is where my soul lies. I am driven by the creativity of others, as I expressed in last week's column, and the A&C section cultivated that creativity by both allowing people to write in their own words and giving press to creative ventures that had been deemed worthy of mention. I passed on the rights to the pages located between  Feature and Sports to Ryan Coghill, who has done an incredible job of giving words to music, when I became the Associate Editor.
It feels good to have moved my way up in the Vista ranks. I started as a copy editor for a few weeks, became a writer and then became an assistant section editor, finally taking over Arts & Culture when the great Sam Woolley passed the torch my way. For me, The Vista became a nurturing means of growing up, and because of this paper I have cultivated my talents and established my place at the University of San Diego. I have met many great people, both famous and infamous, and have made many great friends. But most of all I have accomplished what I came here to accomplish. I have become the editor of my college newspaper.
Ever since I was a young girl in high school I have wanted to be a journalist - a music journalist specifically. I edited my high school yearbook, won an award and graduated from high school, but I had yet to enter the semi-real world of college journalism, a world that would provide me with the opportunity to interview amazing musicians and review their shows. Once I entered that world I knew that I never wanted to leave, so I've stayed, and now I have one more year to make the most of The Vista.
Sometimes I think I'm too small for such a big job. Sure, I've been with this paper for a while. I've seen its editors come and go and its writers get better and worse. I've seen its fonts change, its layout change and its controversial capabilities blow up in my face. But most of all I've seen it change lives in both big and small ways. I know its changed mine, and I know that because of it I am more prepared for the actual real world to take me as one of its many qualified members a year from now. And though I'm not yet ready for that world, I'm definitely ready to take on the world of Editor in Chief (while continuing to write a column for A&C). In the words of Jenny Lewis, "You are what you love." And I love this paper.