Just over a year ago, my first article for Spinnaker was published. Now, I’m in charge of the newsroom. And I have no idea what I’m doing.
I was the only applicant for this position, and at first I only applied, well, because someone had to do it. My then-editor was moving on to bigger, better things, and I had learned from her that this job wasn’t easy. I spent a lot of time talking myself in and out of this job, wondering if I could take on its many pressures and responsibilities. Now, I’m so happy I trusted myself to stay and try out this new and terrifying thing.
Sometimes, I still think of my first day on the job. It was the first day of fall classes and our first editorial meeting of the semester. Our newsroom table and our payroll has enough room for 10 writers, but on that first day only three seats were filled. It was just myself and two other writers. I vividly remember sharing a look that morning with Ethan and Ethan (confusing, right?) that said, “How the hell are we going to run this thing with just three people?”
And somehow we managed. Slowly but surely we added new staff members each week by telling everyone we knew to tell everyone they knew about Spinnaker. By October, we had a team of 10, and were—and still are—maintaining one of the most consistent content streams this site has ever seen. Last month, we released a full-size print magazine for the first time since Summer 2023.
Nearly every project I’ve worked on at this job has been a first-time experience for me, so I still haven’t been able to shake that nervous feeling I’ve had since my first day. A lot of what we do here is throwing spaghetti at the wall, and hoping it sticks.
I thought our news team’s election coverage back in November stuck particularly well. We all worked together to produce comprehensive local and national election coverage, to the extent that had never been done before at Spinnaker.
At first, I drafted this plan to help everyone gain hands-on general election coverage experience—an opportunity that only arises every four years. Of course we don’t have the resources to actually call an election, or to get a direct quote from Trump or Harris. But after seeing how much content we produced, I hoped this coverage truly informed and helped our UNF readers, even if it was in a small way.
The most impressive part of this project to me was how willing everyone on our news team was to pitch in. Every single writer on our team voluntarily stayed in the office that night, refreshing screens and updating graphics. Myself and a few others stayed at the office until 5 a.m. I told everyone they could leave whenever they needed, knowing that we couldn’t possibly pay everyone for the extra hours.
But everyone stayed. That night, we collectively decided to give it everything we had.
I’m not telling you this just to brag about my amazing news team—though that may be part of it. I’m telling you this because I know in my heart that everyone at Spinnaker is doing the best they can with what we have. We show up for students, faculty and the greater UNF community every day. And we are always grateful to you, the reader, for showing up for us. Without you, we wouldn’t be doing this. Without you, I wouldn’t have the coolest part-time job in the world.
Giving Day is just a few days away. It’s a day when UNF community members come together and show up a little extra for university departments and organizations that mean something to them. When you donate to the Spinnaker Media Fund, you’re not only supporting the future of student journalism, but also—in my opinion—UNF’s most vibrant and enriching experiential learning opportunity.
Any amount you choose to give means the world to myself, my news team and every student involved with Spinnaker. If you can’t give, share this page to help spread the word. It’ll help us keep showing up for you.
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For more information or news tips, or if you see an error in this story or have any compliments or concerns, contact editor@unfspinnaker.com.
