Column: Summer editor embraces challenge

I ’ve never been the editor of anything before.

Except, you know, a couple of poorly written papers in high school. I’m coming into this summer with four semesters at The Daily Tar Heel under my belt, but you could say I’m still a little bit unsure of what the hell I’m doing.

So I’m feeling things out and learning as I go.

I have to learn the names of administrators and state politicians (and how to spell them,) and remember not everyone is as interested in local elections as I am. I also — apparently — need to be available in the middle of the night when a baseball story needs to be edited. Since that’s a thing.

We’re going to make a few mistakes this summer, no matter how hard my editors and I try to avoid them — maybe a headline will get misspelled or we’ll leave placeholder text in the caption of an important person’s photo (again.)

There will be at least one absolutely amazing idea that never quite pans out and something I come up with in the middle of the night that doesn’t sound as good in the morning.

I imagine there will be a few corrections, some big whoopsies and a mess or two I will have to learn how to clean up —and a mess or two I don’t know how to clean up. And I will never, ever, ever see my roommates or my dog during the day.

But I also see a lot of great things on the horizon.

I see us challenging our university, challenging our community and challenging ourselves to produce the news we’re known for. I see a website that is constantly updating with the most recent news. I see a staff interacting with students and town residents on Twitter and out in the community. I see student journalists learning to love being an editor and producing our newspaper.

And most importantly, I believe there are a lot of people who care about The Daily Tar Heel and upholding our reputation — working together to make the products of this summer the best they can be.

We will look even further into college campuses’ treatment of sexual assault. We’ll be following along closely with Kay Hagan and Thom Tillis’ campaigns and the Orange County sheriff runoff primary. If any of our Tar Heel sports teams go to the championships, we’ll be right there.

And, of course, there are always a few surprises we’ve got up our sleeves.

This summer, there will be a few mistakes. But I also hope for greatness.

And maybe, just maybe, I’ll see Marcus Paige in one of my summer classes. I wouldn’t mind that either.