The time has come for me to turn over a new leaf and make a transition to greener pastures. This is my last semester working for this wonderful organization, The Navigator News. I am proud to say that I helped contribute to the legacy of this on-campus newspaper while working there since the Fall 2021 semester.
While working for The Navigator News, I have written over one hundred articles. I covered mainly News, Features and Sports. In addition to being a reporter for the News, I was also the Business Manager as well as a Copy Editor. Working in those positions showed me a different perspective on working in a news organization.
My love for writing started off with sports, since my favorite sports are football, basketball, baseball/softball, hockey and boxing. After reading the sports section of the newspaper while growing up, I eventually shifted to reading the rest of the paper to better understand the world around me.
Reading various newspapers, I learned how to write in style. Obviously, I knew not to copy every word that was written. Instead, what I did was use the stories that I read and memorized as a baseline since the stories that I have written about would be slightly different from what I read in the past.
My time at The Navigator News challenged me and at the same time provided an opportunity for me to grow as a person and reporter. I was able to interact with people who had different life experiences in comparison to me and vice versa. While not always agreeing with different views, we learned to respect each other’s differences.
While working at The Navigator News, I participated in many different activities on campus. I participated with the Broadcasting Club, Information Technology Club, local chapters of the honor societies: National Society of Leadership & Success (NSLS) and Phi Theta Kappa (PTK).
I was inducted to the NSLS May 2018 and served as the Vice-President. While with PTK, I served as the Vice-President and President and participated in the different conferences. Furthermore, I won the trivia contest at the Catalyst April 2023 in Columbus, OH.
My next endeavor after The Navigator News is to find another on-campus position. I plan to graduate with an associate’s in information technology (IT) in May and possibly find full-time employment either in Coles County, Champaign County or in the Chicago metro area.
In addition to IT, I received my Associate’s here in Broadcasting and Geospatial Technology. Greg Powers, Mike Rudibaugh, Shelly Martin, Dustyn Fatheree, Tim Stolz, Lisa Shumard-Shelton, Bill Jackson, Doug Johnson, Julian Larry, etc. have been instrumental in my success here on campus either as a student, reporter or both.
Thank you, Navigator News and Lake Land College (LLC) for everything and allowing me to grow as a person and reach my potential. This is reporter and copy editor, Darrius “Doc” Frazier, signing off.
