Becoming the opinion editor for The Oswegonian is something I have been looking forward to for some time now. The position became available for the fall semester in 2014, as the opinion editor at the time, Alain Pierre-Lys, was to be promoted to managing editor that coming spring.

Being the photography director at the time, I was looking for more of a journalistic role on the editorial staff. I enjoyed my time taking pictures for the various sections of the paper, however, taking on more responsibility appealed to me, which I eventually had the opportunity to do.

The job came down to last semester’s opinion editor, Shanna Fuld, and me. Shanna would end up taking over for fall 2014, however, instead of becoming an editor for an entire school year, as per usual, she decided to study abroad for the spring semester in 2015, leaving the position open for one semester, which I was offered to occupy.

This left me with a unique opportunity to continue being the photography director, while assisting Shanna as she performed her daily tasks as opinion editor. This included copy editing articles, coming up with headlines and even aiding on formatting the section from time to time.

When it came time to take over the section by myself for the last issue of the fall semester in 2014, the transition was made much easier than if I hadn’t helped Shanna for the past few months. Had I gone into the position without experice in Indesign, the editing program used to create the newspaper, I would have been more than overwhelmed.

Working for The Oswegonian was something I had wanted to do ever since I found out I had been accepted to Oswego State. Because of my background in photography from high school and my two years at Onondaga Community College as a photography major for my first year, I was able to get my foot in the door by using skills I thought I would never use again, except for a hobby.

After declaring my major in journalism, I was originally bent on writing for the sports section and nothing else. My interests eventually expanded into all the sections of the paper, particularly in the opinion section, because I felt as though I had more free reign over what I was writing.

I could not have asked to be in a better situation here at The Oswegonian. The staff here resembles one big family. Though it has only been two years, I will always have fond memories of where my journalism career began.