Pictured Above: Sophie Ojdanic served as the editor-in-chief for the 2020-2021 academic year. She hopes that her successor focuses on sharing work that needs to be shared.
Sophie Ojdanic | The Crow’s Nest
By Sophie Ojdanic
College was one of the hardest experiences of my life so far. But by far the hardest, most rewarding part of my entire college career was The Crow’s Nest.
The professional and personal developments I made while working as editor-in-chief compare to nothing else. I went from thinking maybe I could get a hard news piece done in a day or two, to being able to write one in 45 minutes.
But speed –– as I’ve learned –– isn’t the only key aspect of delivering “the news.”
Truth and accuracy are the load-bearing walls of journalism, and it seems like little gremlins with tiny, tiny pickaxes are swinging at them every day, screaming “fake news” and “I read it on Twitter!”
It’s imperative that we do our part as local journalists to rebuild those walls.
I like to think that in this year’s Crow’s Nest coverage, we’ve done well to share accurate news with the people in the most timely manner we can.
This ranged from mass resignations to enrollment numbers to student engagement apathy.
On a personal note, I hope The Crow’s Nest’s history of quick and accurate reporting will continue for years to come, with an emphasis on covering what’s important locally, even if it isn’t necessarily “in the limelight” yet.
In terms of production, I’ll miss a lot of things. Like a phone call about breaking news every time I get in the shower. Or Darnell calling out: “Miss Lady!” every time a page layout doesn’t work. I’ll miss a McDonald’s receipt that mistakenly says Bofea instead of Sophie, stuck haphazardly to the wall.
But while I leave all these fond memories behind, I will carry what I learned from them into my next ventures.
In my entry column for the paper, I said an editing job was just a twinkle in my eye. Now, it’s time for me to put on a pair of sunglasses and offer some advice to those who come after me: Your job will be hard. You’ll spend hours in interviews with people who just want to tell you they hate your stories; you’ll spend hours in interviews with people who love your stories. Focus on truth, accuracy and speed, and you’ll know, in your heart, that you’re doing work that should be done. That needs to be done.
