I’ve made my decision — in six weeks, I’ll be done with the Alligator.
I can’t come back and do this again another semester. I’m so happy I’m here, and I’m honored to be in my position.
All of the editors started out this semester bright-eyed and ready to go. Our editor in chief had a game plan, and everyone was ready to follow it.
It hasn’t been a bad semester. There has been awesome news coverage and a staff I have been proud to work with. But I’m finally beginning to understand the burnout past editors have experienced. I’m exhausted, I never see anyone outside the newsroom, and I’m starting to stress out to the point where I feel like I’m bringing down the newsroom environment.
I used to not understand the low turnover at the Alligator. But now, I feel like I can’t try to talk any of the people here into staying. They’ve completely sacrificed a semester of their lives to the Alligator. Relationships and schoolwork have suffered — and I can’t, in good conscience, ask any of them to sacrifice any more time and energy.
I love the Alligator. I love what it’s been to me and how it’s helped me grow. Almost all of my best friends are people I have met at the Alligator.
But I can’t dedicate any more of myself to it. I appreciate the job our section editors are doing this semester. I’m proud of us — I think we’ve made the paper stronger this semester than it’s been in ages.
I care about what happens to the Alligator in the future. I just can’t take that responsibility upon myself.
And maybe that makes me a bad managing editor; I’m not really sure.
3 Comments
November 4, 2008 at 6:36 pm
I dialed back to just writing editorials the semester after I was editor of the Alligator. (Fall 1999, for you historians.) It was comparatively relaxing.
November 6, 2008 at 12:01 am
I’ve found being “at large” a great role after an intense tenure. You can focus on what you enjoy and still work to make the organization better — and not burn out.
November 21, 2008 at 9:21 am
[...] boundaries on my job description Jump to Comments When I decided to make this my last semester at the Alligator, I did so knowing that it would be hard to [...]