I’m going to really miss working with L’Acadien and The Vermilion

There are not enough words to describe my time with Student Publications. I genuinely do not think my experience in college would be the same, nor as fulfilling as it was when working with the wonderful and hardworking team that runs both The Vermilion Newspaper and the L’Acadien Yearbook.

I joined the organization back in the Fall of 2021 during the transition of slowly coming back from the restrictions of COVID-19. It was my wonderful roommate and friend, Julia McDow, who told me about the open designer positions with L’Acadien Yearbook that ultimately got me to join the organization as an official graphic designer. During this time, our team was small and I mostly stuck with the yearbook. 

As the year progressed and I became more comfortable with both my role as a designer for both sides of the organization and learning to collaborate well with my other teammates, I started to work with Julia, graphic designer at the time, on how we could better improve our work to increase communication with the writers of our organization and make our illustrations and design even better.

The following year in Fall 2022, I was offered the new leadership position of being co-design deskhead with Julia for The Vermilion and illustrations editor for L’Acadien Yearbook. The co-design deskhead position was later morphed into another illustrations editor position, leaving me fully in charge of all illustrations made for the entire Student Publications. 

Taking on this position, Julia and I managed to start up our now beloved comics, began the start of color palette and specific style usage, and built systems within our communication to make the lives of our fellow coworkers easier. 

A struggle I had to learn how to overcome while working here was not only how to be a good leader, but how to balance between work life and student life. As an animation major, my school work did not leave much extra time for other activities, but I was able to learn the healthy balance between working and being a student. Something Student Publications always pushed to its student workers was that being a student and working on student projects always came first.

I was able to not only be with my team as a coworker but as a fellow student. We all understood each other had different struggles going on and we all continuously supported each other through our hardships. There were a couple of times where I had to pull an all-nighter for school and I was able to come into the office and comfortably use the space to not only recover but had support from my fellow coworkers.

During my years working with Student Publications, the L’Acadien Yearbook won first place awards with the American Scholastic Press Association and the 2022 Organization of the Year award. The Vermilion had won several awards with the American Scholastic Press Association and the Southeast Journalism Conference obtaining a first place for Best College Newspaper in the Southeastern United States and a 2023 award for Organization of the Year.

I am so unbelievably proud of all the hard work and growth I have seen over these years with my teams. I have not only seen them grow as writers, photographers, designers, and leaders, but also as people and I cannot wait to see how much they continue to improve and accomplish as they strive for greatness.

Through these three wonderful years with Student Publications, I have learned so much about not only the vital skills of a graphic designer, but as a leader, and a writer. 

I know the sophomore that joined back in 2021 has grown and developed so much. I not only found my place on campus with this organization, but I found my family and I cannot thank them enough for giving me this amazing opportunity to work with them all. 

I’d love to thank all the amazing different kinds of staff that I have had the pleasure to work with throughout my three years with Student Publications: Amelia Jennings, Zachary Nagy, Lena Foster, Kayla Billiot,  Boyd Daniels, Isaac Henry, Faryal Atif, Kay Padilla, Morgan Courville, Charles Martin, Morgan Parker, Alyus Dick and Marie Ducote. You all have treated me with kindness and patience as I was learning and developing my skills as a team and a leader.

I would also like to thank my design team: Lauren Gerald, Lucy Shields, Ellie Schmidt, Landon Fruge, Lillian Babineaux and Caitlyn Chase. Thank you for not only giving me your trust in guiding you throughout your time with me as your leader, but for also being a wonderful team that I could always rely on to get things done timely and well. 

Another group of people I want to give thanks for is a group I would call my family. Julia McDow, Sarah Guidry, Ava Blanchard, Adhamm Safford, Andre Broussard and Malik Jones. I have seen how much you all have grown and changed and I am so thankful that I was able to not only meet you all but also have the pleasure of working with you. I do not know who I would be if any of you were not alongside me for this part of my life.

Lastly, I would love to give all my thanks to our amazing supervisor of Student Publications, Matthew Tarver. You were so kind to me and all the other staff throughout my time here. To me, you were not just a supervisor, but you were also like a parent. I felt like I could come to you for any problem I had, whether it be work, school, or personal. I cannot thank you enough for giving me this opportunity to work with you and the organization.

It was truly an honor to work with Student Publications. I will look back at my time here and miss everything about it. This has been an unforgettable experience and I hope the best for those still working and those who wish to join.