SOPHIE FERNANDES
When I went to the 2016 Journalism Education Association/National Scholastic Press Association conference, I took multiple classes to learn how to be a leader and help my staff. I also got the chance to bond with my fellow editors and learn how work with them professionally and as friends. I had never felt so close to anyone than I did to my ODYSSEY peers on this trip. I know now that in order to work well as a team we all need to trust and feel content and secure with one another. The ODYSSEY staff has been my backbone throughout high school.
Another duty the Managing Editor takes on is peer evaluation conferences. After each issue, staffers reflect on their peers and themselves. They provide detailed anecdotes about their presence and effort in intangibles, group discussion, layout, writing, taking photos and communication, and then give each other ratings of 1 through 10. By doing this, I am able to address any issues (or good things) with staff relations going on during production.
Through conferences with staffers, I am able to pinpoint who is in need of a mentor/guidance. There is one freshman, for instance, that shares similarities with me. I immediately flash back to freshman year when she speaks about what holds her back. However, I have overcome many of these obstacles from experience and knowledge, so I am able to give her valuable advice regarding this. She is one of many staffers that I have chosen to mentor. I try to motivate, inspire and steer them in the right direction by reading journalistically and walking them through their pieces.