“And Sarah, you just queen out girl.”

Senior Sadie Babler told me during the morning of a yearbook Saturday workday for deadline two. I was all done with my work, but 151 is a place I’ve always lingered in.

In my junior year, I was the editor-in-chief of the yearbook with my best friend. Finding out I wasn’t going to be in that position for my senior year, and was being demoted to assistant copy editor, I wanted to quit after 3 years of being well involved in the program.

Instead, over the summer, I took a step back and distanced myself from anything related to yearbook and joined the newspaper to have a new journalism outlet. While those decisions made the transition smoother, I was still stuck in an editor position I didn’t even want.      

After deadline one, I decided to focus on just being there if someone asked, but I really just enjoyed working on my assignments for yearbook and newspaper while keeping the good vibes rolling for everyone around me.  

With my to-do list constantly consisting of my own work and “queening out,” my new position on staff was born.

    Queen Out Editor

With this title, I have planned a first hour editor breakfast, gone on countless Quick Trip and Five Below runs along with just staying in 151 with my journalism girls to have a group queen out and or debrief. 

While I do use the “position” for others, it’s something that has favoured my interests. I’ve been able to work more during the week to save for college and try new areas of writing I’d never gotten the chance to dip into. 

I loved being a leader in journalism and am grateful for every opportunity I’ve been given, but for my senior year, taking a step back and simply enjoying the process and the people around me is what made my year. I’m so glad I didn’t act too irrationally a year ago.