Notes from Suburbia

The semester finally ended, much to my relief. It was quite possibly the most challenging - not necessarily because the workload was any harder, but I could literally feel myself wear down.

My tumultuous career at the college paper as an editor closed as of Dec. 12. One of my columnists will be taking over the Opinions Desk...and I will write columns for him once a week. I expect to do some page design, as well.

It feels bittersweet, considering the fact that I've bothered to apply for the Editor in Chief position for two semesters in a row (Spring 2005, Fall 2005). I honestly don't understand why I didn't get the job the second time around, but I think I am actually glad that I did not. Things deteriorated to a point where I actually walked out of the newsroom while I was designing pages to help out with a supplement. It is no longer a place I enjoy working at.

I will be working, instead, as the flak for the student government. All the "you've joined the dark side" jokes aside, I think it'll be a different experience. I won't be paid, but I think I will at least get something out of the job, as opposed to any editorship at the paper at this point.

I've been turned down by the Globe and WSJ. I can't say that I'm surprised. The Globe sent me a nice e-mail about how they want to track my progress, however, so that was a plus. Now just waiting on the Post Dispatch, Journal-Sentinel and the Chicago Tribune. I don't expect much from the Tribune, so it's just a waiting game at this point. Hopefully I'll have a place to work at in the summer.