As an RA in a freshman facility, I’m told constantly about the importance of being involved on campus. That being said, I think an amazing way for students (no matter their class standing) to get involved on campus is to come and work for the Valley Vanguard.
Here are some of the reasons that I think you (specifically) should work for The Vanguard.
Firstly, it fits into your schedule because you make your own schedule You don’t have to take stories on weeks you don’t want to, and a lot of work can be done online if you can get ahold of someone to do an interview over email, which is a pretty great commute if you ask me.
We have a weekly meeting on Sundays, but they aren’t mandatory. Other than that, the only deadline to keep track of is turning your stories in on Friday afternoon. You get to choose what stories you want to take based on what fits for you and what you’re interested in.
Secondly, It’s a good excuse to go to things. I, personally, always feel like I need a reason to go to an event, and the newspaper is the perfect one. It’s a great way to push yourself to go to things you’re interested in on campus and chat with people.
Some of my favorite campus events that I’ve gone to I only went to because of the newspaper, and I think that other students, especially freshman, could easily have the same experience.
Working with the newspaper helped me to gain a lot of confidence in both my writing and my personal life. I think that if you’re someone who’s unsure if you could do it, or if you should do it, you should just do it. You can always quit if you don’t like it, but maybe you’ll find your place here.
Thirdly, we need people. Please I am begging you, we’re kind of understaffed. Most of our stories are covered by our editorial staff and honestly, while I like writing for the paper, I would love to see other people getting their input into the newspaper and showcasing different campus voices.
I think that having more people involved with the newspaper could help make us more relevant to the campus community as well. We’re always trying to take a new angle, and our Editor-in-Chief is really open to new suggestions, so if you have an idea for something we could do differently, work here and make it happen. Finally, I think that you should work for The Vanguard because you’ve read this far. Frankly, I don’t think you would be at the end of this article if you weren’t even considering it in the back of your mind. You have nothing other than maybe 2 hours of your life to lose by applying and doing a story, but a lot you could gain from it (including a paycheck).
Go to our website and apply as a writer/photographer. I know you can do it because I did it with absolutely zero experience and somehow made it to a point where I’m telling you that you can do it to, so go do the thing and then you can bring a copy of the paper with your first story in it home to your grandma during thanksgiving break so she can have something to brag to her friends about.
Work for the paper because it makes your grandma proud.
Categories: Uncategorized