It has always been a goal of mine to be a sports editor; I just did not know I would have the opportunity during my sophomore year of college.

Originally, I was going to be the deputy sports editor. Some complications arose, and the position of sports editor kind of fell into my lap. It was daunting at first — going from covering football and men’s basketball to managing five or six writers is a huge change.

I took over midway into the men’s basketball season, so I had to give the beat up to one of my writers since I could not do both. This was especially difficult for me because I had gotten quite attached to the team and their progress throughout the season. I was not ready to give it up. Nonetheless, I did give it up and was then free to focus on my section.

Editing stories, creating newspaper layouts and communicating with writers were the main parts of my position. As an introvert, I found communicating with writers as the hardest part of my job.

I began the semester micromanaging my writers and found that it caused me far too much stress. I had to ask myself, “how can I improve the section? How can I earn the respect of my writers?”

Being a sophomore, all of the sports writers  were older than me. I was the youngest in the section, and most of my writers had been at The Daily Evergreen for longer than me.

After a great talk with Sandi, I gained some confidence and felt better about my section editor role. I felt less stressed with my responsibilities and actually started to enjoy the production process.

This one-semester experience taught me more than a single class could ever teach me. It was a constant learning experience and forced me to solve problems on the fly.

When shit hits the fan, people try their best to make it work. A lot of shit hit the fan. I decided to transfer back home to Southern California for the upcoming fall semester, I fired a writer for plagiarism, and I experienced some mental breakdowns during my time as sports editor.

I will take my experience at The Daily Evergreen into every newsroom I enter. The lessons I learned during this time will be the precedent I base my future decisions on. I loved the experience and would not change anything.

I am thankful for all the section editors that I have worked alongside and am especially grateful to Sandi and Meghan for making the newsroom a welcoming environment.