As a freshman beginning my first year at Slippery Rock University, I didn’t truly know what path I would take over the course of my four years here. In October 2013, a month into my freshman year, I found myself at Cooper’s Lake Campground covering Women’s Cross Country and preparing to write my very first article as a Rocket contributor. Little did I know it at the time, I was taking my first step into an incredible experience with the newspaper.
During my sophomore year, I found myself on The Rocket’s staff as Assistant Sports Editor. Working alongside the Sports Editor at the time, Brian Hepfinger, we brought new ideas to the section, including the “Athlete of the Month” voting poll. The following year, after I had taken over as Sports Editor, we were able expand on this poll by adding feature articles to commemorate the Athlete of the Month winners, and I couldn’t have done it without the help of the current Sports Editor, Cody Nespor, who practically overhauled our section visually and did a tremendous job as my partner.
As a senior, I leave the sports section and will take on new responsibility as The Rocket’s Editor-in-Chief, a position I wouldn’t have even imagined myself to be in a year ago. With this responsibility comes a great deal of challenges, most notably our cut down in total publications to just 10 for the entire year, causing us to create more of a focus with theonlinerocket.com. I understand that this year will come with its growing pains, but that doesn’t make me any less excited to get this started. I have been graced with an incredible staff and I am absolutely certain The Rocket will have another strong year and I can’t wait to see what unfolds for this newspaper in 2016-2017 and beyond.
