From the editor’s desk: A letter to end the semester

BY MACKENZIE JOHNSON

Editor-in-Chief

The amount of time it takes to walk across a graduation stage falls anywhere between 10 and 12 seconds. This includes the span spent trying not to trip over the steps leading up to the stage, shaking a university president’s hand and, of course, switching your tassel from the right to the left side of your cap.

While this ceremonial experience—and the collective years that have led up to it—go by in a duration that seems to surpass typical standards of time, my 3.5 years of college and the moments that filled them simply cannot be condensed into that small interval.

I am fortunate to have a number of moments that are well worth celebrating beyond the precious occasion spent walking the stage, but I must say, every month, day, hour, minute and second spent being Editor-in-Chief of the Texan News Service/J-TAC has been my favorite use of time.

Originally a Tennessee native, Tarleton’s Rodeo team and its convenient location to Fort Worth (the hotbed for all things Western media) is what brought me to the great state of Texas. Since junior high, I knew I wanted to move out of state for college, and a trip to Tarleton’s campus my junior year of high school solidified that plan.

I thought moving 10 hours away from home would be challenging, but it was a natural adjustment. I fell in love with all things Texas quickly, from the many barrel races I could go to any night of the week to the cowboy-rooted culture found in nearly every crevice of the state – and even more so, I fell in love with the opportunity to write about it.

My earliest memories are wrapped around my young proclamations of wanting to be a writer, and more specifically, an equine journalist. North Texas is the perfect place to seek out those aspirations – that I knew. But what I didn’t know is how much the TNS would play in my pursuits toward that.

I was recruited to join the TNS as a multimedia journalist through Austin Lewter’s online news writing and gathering class. I’m an agricultural communications major and took the class the spring of my sophomore year as a solid elective option that I thought I’d enjoy. I believe the first story I wrote was on Dr. Jessica Leatherwood, a Tarleton associate professor doing research on performance horse musculoskeletal health.

I remember when Lewter graded it, he left the words “wow” in the assignment comments (an email I kept and still have in my inbox today). Soon after, he asked me to stop by his office at the semester’s end to talk about the possibility of joining the TNS.

I had heard about the TNS and knew it was something that interested me, but between college rodeo, school and working nearly seven days a week at a barn, I wasn’t sure if I’d have time for it. After speaking with Lewter about the organization and the requirements attached to it, I felt certain it wasn’t just something I could make time for, but also knew that not doing so would deprive me of an experience offering so much.

At the beginning of the next school year, I stepped into a full newsroom for the semester’s orientation day nervous and anxious. I knew not a soul, and the number of students there was intimidating. Looking back now, I can’t exactly pinpoint when we became the cohesive and tightly bound bunch that we are now, but it didn’t take long.

While I had certainly been involved in team-oriented settings through rodeo, the TNS was a different experience altogether, and I know even now that getting to work in a positive and enriching environment with such driven and like-minded student journalists has laid the framework for so much of what I hope to bring to any future journalistic role of mine.

Alongside my peers, I started out serving as the primary rodeo beat writer, competing in the college rodeos on the weekend and then writing about them the next week. My next semester, I moved up to managing editor under the guidance of then editor-in-chief and now mentor, Haeley Carpenter.

There was something in the air that spring semester that seemed to bring us even closer together as a staff, largely in part to the off-campus trips we were able to take. In February, Haeley, Ashtyn Hansard, Lindsey Hughes and I were given the opportunity to travel to New York for the College Media Association conference—where we all bonded over our impressive ability to drive Lewter up the walls when it came to deciding where and what to eat—and in April, nearly the whole staff packed their bags for the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association Conference, another experience that enabled us to connect outside the newsroom.

Getting to be managing editor that semester, where I had a front row seat to the growth of our staff, was so invaluable and something I carried into the role of editor-in-chief the next school year – a role I was simply ecstatic to be in.

I have learned so much as editor-in-chief, from picking the types of stories to best fit in the health magazine we took up this semester to learning the best strategies in leading a talented team, but what I’ve learned most about is myself. While I thought my largest passion was writing, getting to see everybody else’s writing and editing this semester became not only another new passion for me, but strengthened the writing and editing of my own.

My senior semester has taught me many other things and has been extremely busy, as I have also been pursuing an on-site editorial internship at Barrel Horse News in Fort Worth, a remote editorial internship with Rodeo LIFE Magazine, picking up freelance writing gigs when I can, still college rodeoing and working at a barn, as well as having taken a two-and-a-half-week leave in October for a separate media internship over the course of the NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity.

As a result, I have relied heavily on my fellow peers. There are so many people to thank for the success of the semester, I couldn’t possibly name them all, but I will say the executive team members have been so integral in everything the TNS is.

To Lindsey, your company is such a treasured one. We often joke about how fast time passes in the editing room on a paper day, but I think its quick passing is in large part to how effortless it is to work alongside you. Your abilities as an art director and photographer are far-reaching, and I am honored to be a witness to them.

To Ashtyn, I am so grateful to call you a friend and to have grown closer to you in the last year. Your dedication to the TNS over the years is evident in all that you do. I am constantly inspired by your unwavering devotion to what you put on your plate, and no matter how many things you’re balancing, the TNS has remained at the forefront. That commitment in all that you do has taken you so far and will only continue to do so, no matter where you take your talents.

To Colton, I am so grateful to graduate alongside you and excited for the opportunities coming your way. Thank you for all you have done this semester and for the many cherished memories you’ve been a part of. You’re steady, dependable and beyond capable — any newsroom will be lucky to have you.

To Caroline, I couldn’t eloquently put into words how thrilled I am for you to be editor-in-chief next semester even if I tried. Simply put, you have all of the qualities that make you not only an astounding writer but one with the capabilities to extend those talents to her peers. Your potential is limitless, you handle whatever is thrown at you with grace and determination and I am beyond excited to see what you will bring to the role of editor-in-chief.

To Lewter, while you are often my favorite person to pick on, you are also my favorite to look up to. Your devotion to your students is parallel to few, and I am fortunate to have you in my corner. While the TNS is student-run, you are the backbone as to why we can take the reins so seamlessly. Many of the opportunities I’ve been given this past year—within the TNS and outside of it—are a direct correlation to your teachings, mentorship and guidance. Thank you.

To our J-TAC editors, broadcast and podcast team, your leadership has been so instrumental in the accomplishments of the semester. Without your respective roles, the TNS would look much different, and I am thankful we don’t have a world without your talents.

And to our multimedia journalists, long-standing and newbies, getting to be your editor is something I will always hold in such high regard. I am vastly proud of how far you’ve grown as journalists and honored to be a very small part of it. Please know I will always be your biggest fan and supporter.

While I have never been an overly sentimental person, graduating is an odd feeling. Over the course of college, I’ve experienced deadlines for assignments, articles and newspaper and magazine editions, and none of those due dates have felt quite as intimidating as the one of graduation day.

However, despite the unknown that comes with closing a beloved chapter and the fear of beginning a new one, I know that every step I take toward my dreams is rooted in my time at the TNS across all of my roles. And while those steps and the direction they lead are uncertain, the impact of the TNS and its people are unwavering.

I’ve never felt more prepared to write that next chapter – and if I ever need help editing it, I know exactly which team to go to.