Welcome back guys!
I’ve mentioned multiple times on this blog that I am a writer and designer on my school’s yearbook staff this year. The first month or so of school has just been getting new members (like me!) caught up on how to use the software, how the class runs, and so on. We’ve finally started our first assignments/activities, and I’m a little overwhelmed. It’s not that I didn’t realize how much work it was going to be; the amount is manageable, and I knew it wouldn’t be a complete cakewalk.
I guess the best way that I can sum it up is that it’s overwhelming to be thrown into a major school activity that also happens to be a business (people pay for the yearbook), and has a significant legacy already. Our school is pretty large, so in turn, our yearbook is traditionally very large (around 500 pages). Take into account we have about 20 staff members and… yeah.
I didn’t think my social awkwardness would play such an annoying role in being a yearbook staff member either. I don’t know why I didn’t realize this earlier, but as a writer, I’m responsible for interviewing a lot of people so I can get quotes for my assignments. During the summer I imagined myself typing away on a computer like I did with my blog, writing about whatever I pleased. Obviously that wouldn’t have been the case no matter what, but I forgot about the interviewing process that comes before the writing as well.
I’m enjoying the design element of it all a lot more than I thought I would. I initially joined thinking I would be doing strictly writing assignments, but I think I’ve honestly spent more time practicing my design skills than writing. We use Adobe InDesign, which is a super fun program to work with. I definitely wish I was more creative and had unique ideas of what to actually design on the pages, but the platform in itself is fun.
I’m really hoping that once we continue to dive into things and move onto more assignments, I’ll find my stride. I don’t have a preference between writing or design at the moment, but I’m hoping that at least I’ll excel at one of them. The writing will be a creative relief since I’ve barely had any time to work on this blog or my personal writing outside of a few hours on my already-busy weekends.
This is definitely a shorter post, but I wanted to address the reality of being in yearbook so far since it’s something I’ve discussed on this blog. I’m really glad I joined, especially since there’s such wonderful and kind people in it, but it’s another example of things being harder than I expected. I look forward to learning a lot more throughout the year, and I’ll probably make another update like this within a couple months.
-Brooke
adventures of a typical high school student 