Down in the newsroom

By Tatiana Sanchez and Alyssa Savage

As two seniors who are on the verge of graduating in just a few weeks, we've come to find that aside from being seniors, we have much in common. We are both, for example, English majors. We are both California natives. We both attended the same freshman orientation so many years ago. We both love Tuesdays at the Hut. And we both plan to leave California after graduation.

But, most importantly, we have both had the privilege of working as editors for The Santa Clara during the past school year.

It is impossible to describe the joy and pride that we feel as we reflect on the past nine months we have spent as editors. Though at times our jobs have brought stress, intense pressure and never-ending hours in the newsroom, it has been a rewarding experience that has strengthened our characters and our perceptions of what it means to be good journalists.

When we first became editors, we had no idea what to expect. It was almost like learning to swim; with tough deadlines, a constant stream of e-mails and high expectations, we could barely stay afloat.

The stress and dedication to generate a respectable issue every week regularly kept us in the basement of Benson until after Campus Safety locked up. As sleepy, grumpy and hungry editors, we often walked home alongside students leaving The Hut at two in the morning.

Yet, as time went by, we learned to carry not only ourselves but also each other. Though we never could have foreseen the backlash we received for the reporting of controversial stories such as the Notorious Phi party or the emergency Associated Student Government funding of Martin Luther King night, we pulled through as a team and never lost sight of our purpose as journalists.

It was during our most stressful times that we turned to one another for support, reassurance and direction. In such a tight-knit working environment, the staff became our family and we learned things from one another that we had never known before. Today, we continue to learn endless things about one another and about what it means to be true leaders, as well as family.

The newsroom became a home and safe haven for everyone on staff. A staff member, who was probably too comfortable, left a fuzzy pair of blue and white polka dot pajamas on the arm of a couch for months. They're still unclaimed. We were so comfortable with our environment that our editor-in-chief took it upon himself to hang his Christmas presents around the newsroom: posters of a very creepy looking Edward Cullen, the Jo Bro's and a puppy calendar, to name a few. On more than one occasion, the sofa served as a place to take a nap, the computers a resource for doing homework between classes.

And as we all became more comfortable with one another, we grew as a team. Our Sunday budget meetings turned into an hour plus of making inappropriate jokes while munching on last week's package of Oreos and cola. Yet through our collaboration and teamwork, we miraculously finished each issue on time.

One of our most recent excursions as a team took us to an awards ceremony at Hearst Castle. The Santa Clara was nominated for four awards: Best Sports Column, Arts and Entertainment Story, Editorial and Headline Portfolio.

Normally, we are in the windowless newsroom between 10 and 25 hours each week. But that weekend we toured the castle of newspaper industrialist William Randolph Hearst, stayed up all night dancing between our hotel rooms and played Frisbee on the beach after breakfast.

It is this sense of closeness and the endless laughter that will be missed the most.

We realize that one of the fundamental things we learned as editors is that teamwork is invaluable. In a society where individuals are taught to fend for themselves and to get ahead of all the rest, teamwork and solidarity are thrown aside.

But we came to find that great things can be achieved through teamwork; after all, it is through our camaraderie that we came to see a newspaper born every single week.

So as it comes time to step down from our positions as design editor and opinion editor, we realize that goodbyes are indeed bittersweet. Yet we walk away with a sense of fulfillment in knowing that our experiences as editors have allowed us to grow, both as journalists and as human beings. For this we are extremely thankful.

Today we walk away knowing we will no longer spend countless hours singing to Miley Cyrus or Celine Dion in the newsroom, but we also know that this experience has been one we will remember forever, and one that strengthened our roles as leaders.

Our advice for next year's editors? Sleep while you can.

Tatiana Sanchez is a senior English major and opinion editor for The Santa Clara.Alyssa Savage is a senior English major and design editor for The Santa Clara.