By Kyle Yasumiishi in Opinion
This is my last issue as editor-in-chief of The Independent.
I’ve had the unique privilege of serving students, staff, faculty, alumni and the local community over the past nine months by providing timely and relevant news about Clark College.
During this time, The Independent staff won more than 24 awards, including seventh place in a national contest and first place for General Excellence and Publication Sweeps among student newspapers from community colleges in Washington.
The Independent staff embraced a digital-first approach for breaking news and multimedia journalism. The Independent’s website, which launched last spring, reached 5,548 views in May, pushing the all-time website views over 27,000.
Nearly every staffer regularly uses social networking websites like Twitter and Facebook to promote stories in The Independent.
Plus, advertising manager Darrik Burns sold The Independent’s first online advertisement last month.
I’m proud of The Independent’s accomplishments this year. However, I’m more proud of the staff’s high level of integrity, ethics and professionalism.
One of my main goals as editor-in-chief was to improve the quality of each issue of The Independent and for every staffer to improve their newswriting and communication skills. I congratulate The Independent staff for accomplishing these goals.
One question I’m asked a lot is, “What are your plans after leaving The Independent?”
I plan to complete my associate degree at Clark College and then transfer to the University of Washington to earn a bachelor’s degree in accounting.
Although I’m determined to accomplish my academic and career goals, I refuse to completely rule out the possibility that I’ll be involved in journalism in the future.
Studying journalism at Clark College and serving as editor-in-chief of The Independent helped me develop “hard” skills, the technical skills necessary for a particular job, and “soft” skills, or personality and professional traits.
I’m confident that the “soft” skills I’ve acquired will benefit me regardless of which academic or career field I pursue.
For example, I’ve learned the importance of ethics, accuracy, meeting deadlines and professionalism. These skills will help me succeed in school, business and life.
Perhaps I will even combine my passions for business and journalism.
In fact, the field of journalism is begging for entrepreneurs to develop a profitable business model in the digital era.
