What a journey this has been. Joining Black and Redgister was one of the best decisions that I have made while at ADM. To think I almost didn’t join this amazing staff because I was afraid of what to expect. Mrs. Basinger and being a part of Black and Redgister this year have taught me a lot of things that will help me prepare for my future.

At first, I thought I wouldn’t be a good enough writer to stick with everyone else on this staff because most of the staff had already been here for a year. When I heard that you had deadlines to meet every single month I thought, “Oh boy, we will see how this turns out.”

There was nothing better than getting to write two stories of your choice surrounded by one of the best news journalism staffs in Iowa. Being a part of Black and Redgister has taught me the ways of journalism while maintaining a professional image while gathering as a staff and collaborating as a team. This year I have learned how to write in-depth stories, with many different components added to it.

First writing the original story was kinda hard cause I genuinely had no clue how long they were supposed to be, then it got easier as time went on and some of the stories ended up writing pretty well. If someone told me at the beginning of the year I was going have a story be read by a lot of people I would’ve been like, “Yeah right, not gonna happen.”

This class has taught me what a press conference looks like. Every month ADM Superintendent Greg Dufoe would come and speak to our staff for 15-20 minutes and talk about news in the school district including the process of building the new high school.

I’ve also learned how to edit videos and make a podcast (thank you to our adviser Mrs. Basinger for going to extra mile–that was a fun experience). Making the podcast was a lot of fun. Doing so allowed me to talk about different topics in the sports world as well as bring in people who weren’t a part of our staff. Being a part of this staff also taught me how to put together a student-led TV publication (our staff’s is called Black & Red TV). That experience taught us how to have a camera presence and become comfortable seeing myself on screen.

I also want to thank Mrs. Basinger for coming up with the idea of running Twitter for football because that opened so many opportunities for me. Thank you to this staff for an amazing year. I couldn’t ask for a better staff to be a part of. Memories were made that will last a lifetime.

If you are a skilled writer and want to get more involved in the school come join Black and Redgister. You won’t regret it and will have an enjoyable experience.