Closing a big chapter in life
A retrospective look
Royce Ann Walker
Issue date: 4/27/09 Section: Opinion
I never intended to teach and yet I am closing the book on more than 35 years of teaching, 32 of those years at San Jacinto College.
During that time I have advised the publication of 750 issues of the student newspaper, advised 32 great newspaper staffs. At times it has been one of the most rewarding experiences and at other times one of the most challenging. I don't even want to think of how much copy I have edited during those years, how many comma splices or misspelled words.
My main focus at the college has always been that of the students in my classes and the student newspaper staff. In 1977, I started at the North campus where the North Star was published weekly. In 1990, I joined the Central campus to direct the centralized journalism program and create a district-wide publication to replace the ones produced at each campus. And, each year, the students continue to produce an award-winning publication. Three times, the staff won the prestigious national PaceMaker award.
When I started in this business in 1968, the technology was hot lead type, linotype machines and printing proofs from frames of type. Technology has evolved to the point that everything is computerized. The media has seen convergence and now it's all a buzz with websites, social networking, blogs and twitters. Where this is taking us, no one knows.
I am sure I will wake up one day and not have a newspaper to hold in my hands, no printer's ink to smug on my hands, no stacks of newspapers in my home at the end of the week.
You know times have changed when the students in the class have not ever heard of Watergate and Woodard and Bernstein, but they have seen the latest YouTube video. They can't name the Secretary of State, but they know the type of dog that is in the White House. They get their news from Internet sites such as the Drugg Report or they think The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is real news.
The most rewarding part of my job has been the opportunity to touch the lives of so many students. Many have gone on to make their mark in the field of journalism, holding media positions across the United States. Some discovered the career was not for them, but found other areas of interest.
During that time I have advised the publication of 750 issues of the student newspaper, advised 32 great newspaper staffs. At times it has been one of the most rewarding experiences and at other times one of the most challenging. I don't even want to think of how much copy I have edited during those years, how many comma splices or misspelled words.
My main focus at the college has always been that of the students in my classes and the student newspaper staff. In 1977, I started at the North campus where the North Star was published weekly. In 1990, I joined the Central campus to direct the centralized journalism program and create a district-wide publication to replace the ones produced at each campus. And, each year, the students continue to produce an award-winning publication. Three times, the staff won the prestigious national PaceMaker award.
When I started in this business in 1968, the technology was hot lead type, linotype machines and printing proofs from frames of type. Technology has evolved to the point that everything is computerized. The media has seen convergence and now it's all a buzz with websites, social networking, blogs and twitters. Where this is taking us, no one knows.
I am sure I will wake up one day and not have a newspaper to hold in my hands, no printer's ink to smug on my hands, no stacks of newspapers in my home at the end of the week.
You know times have changed when the students in the class have not ever heard of Watergate and Woodard and Bernstein, but they have seen the latest YouTube video. They can't name the Secretary of State, but they know the type of dog that is in the White House. They get their news from Internet sites such as the Drugg Report or they think The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is real news.
The most rewarding part of my job has been the opportunity to touch the lives of so many students. Many have gone on to make their mark in the field of journalism, holding media positions across the United States. Some discovered the career was not for them, but found other areas of interest.
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