The 2019 spring semester at UNI is quickly coming to a close, and so is my time as the news editor of the Northern Iowan.

This marks the first time I address you all as myself, as opposed to the objective voice of reason you are accustomed to reading. I’m going to do my best to maintain my journalistic integrity while simultaneously giving you a taste of who I am as a person. It’s a tough line to walk, but I feel confident that this position has provided me with the skills necessary to do so.

  To tell the truth, I didn’t grow up dreaming of being an editor at a newspaper, but in my mere months of experience, I have gained more clarity in my career path than I thought was possible prior to graduating college. That is all thanks to this job. I used to think there was no chance I would ever find myself working a desk job for the rest of my life. Now, it doesn’t seem so foreign of a concept.

So no, I wouldn’t say I have a passion for editing the news page of the Northern Iowan, but I do have a passion for learning, and this job has provided me with an outlet where I can do just that.

I have learned something new every day since beginning this position. Sometimes, that newly acquired piece of knowledge comes from a person I work with, a story I edit or a person I interview. This can be said about most jobs, but I think that is the point I am trying to make. Every job is what you make of it. If you want to hate your job, go for it, but even the seemingly most meaningless job in the world offers knowledge that cannot be found anywhere else.

I have made more mistakes in my time at the Northern Iowan than I care to admit, but I refuse to apologize for a single one (even though I probably did at the time). Failure is knowledge and knowledge is power.

There is no skill or piece of knowledge that you can acquire in your time at school, work or life in general that will hurt you. Even the worst mistake you could make will inevitably teach you something about life that you didn’t know before, and that is not something you should ever apologize for.

Thank you for allowing me to be your news editor, even if it was only for one semester. I will take the skills and knowledge that I gained here and use it in every aspect of my life for as long as I live. Good luck out there, folks, and go Cats!