When I first joined the newspaper, I underestimated how hard it would be.
In case you’ve ever wondered, running a school newspaper is a lot like conducting an orchestra, except the musicians are sleep-deprived teenagers with deadlines and enormous workloads. That’s one of the many things being Editor-in-Chief has taught me. Before saying anything further, however, allow me to introduce myself:
I’m Wahaj Uddin, the Editor-in-Chief of the BHA Post. I’ve been involved in Journalism at BHA since 9th grade, and this is my second year as Editor-in-Chief. You may not see tons of articles on this website under my name, but rest assured that I’m always working behind the scenes.
If I could describe my role as Editor-in-Chief with three words, they would be “challenging yet rewarding.” Notice how I’ve made two claims with that statement, and hopefully, I’ll be able to convince you of both by the end of this article. To do that, however, we’ll need to start with what a typical week looks like for me.
We have club every other week on Monday, and articles are published every Monday, which is why my schedule is usually the most busy on, you guessed it, Mondays. A typical day in my life begins at around 6:00 A.M, with all of the regular things: getting ready for school, having breakfast, etc.; nothing quite interesting.
My newspaper duties begin at around 8:00 A.M. As a Junior, I don’t have homeroom, so I get 15 minutes every morning to take care of any work I need to get done. Oftentimes I’ll stop by Ms. Joanna, the newspaper club advisor, to discuss something important, like equipment orders, upcoming events, issues, and as of recently, field trip planning. Afterwards, I attend classes until either lunch, or free period depending on the day. On Mondays, I’m in class until 12:10 P.M., which is when lunch begins. During lunch, I sometimes visit Ms. Sundus to follow up on an email or request, or to pick up something, like a piece of equipment.
After lunch on Mondays, I attend one more class before salah, and then I have a free period. This is when my real work usually gets started. All articles submitted by the school newspaper’s writers need to be reviewed, edited, and approved before publishing. Thankfully, the Online Editors usually get through most of the submitted pieces over the weekend, which reduces how much time I have to spend reviewing and editing them. Despite this, however, it usually takes me all of free period, and a good 1-2 hours at home. If it’s a B-week Monday, I make my way to the Computer Lab at 3:15 for club, where I catch up with writers who haven’t finished an article, review new drafting ideas, and make any necessary announcements. From there, I head home and continue editing and reviewing articles until around 6-6:30 P.M. Once articles are published, I then format the release, selecting showcase pieces for the website homepage.
Each day also usually brings some additional work. It could be working on staff profiles, communicating with board members, organizing event coverage, etc. On rare occasions, I might have to go out to buy something, like a padlock a few weeks ago for one of our equipment lockers. All in all, I’m typically finished with newspaper-related duties by 8 or 9 P.M on Mondays, after which I start my schoolwork, and yes, taking 4 AP classes isn’t much fun when you find yourself beginning schoolwork after dark.
The rest of my week isn’t as bad, although I’m still doing something for newspaper every day. If it’s not editing, it might be planning, meeting with board members or administration, charging and checking on equipment, sending WhatsApp announcements, and so on.
You can probably tell by now that being Editor in Chief can be quite exhausting, and indeed, that’s exactly how I feel on most days. Sometimes, when I lay down feeling burnt out or find myself staring at the clock and seeing that it’s midnight, a small voice whispers to me in my mind, asking me questions. “Why are you doing all of this? How is this supposed to help you? Imagine how free you would be if you didn’t take on all of these responsibilities.”
And I must admit, sometimes that little voice’s arguments are pretty convincing. But ultimately, there are many reasons why I’m still here.
Number one, admittedly, I like what I do. Being in my position means that I get to do a little bit of everything within the newspaper. Occasionally I write an article, sometimes I take photos at events, and every now and then I might even find myself video editing. Overall, I’m always doing something different, so at least I’m never bored.
Secondly and more importantly, although it may sound a little cliche, what’s more beloved to me than the work I do are the people I do it with. As Editor in Chief, I’ve met amazing people and students at BHA: everyone from my own board members to the Yearbook Club team, as well as different historians from clubs such as MIST, HOSA, and STUCO. Getting to work with such people has really been an honor, and it has undoubtedly shaped who I am today.
My bonds with fellow students within the newspaper have only been strengthened by field trips. Over the years, I’ve been to San Antonio and Austin for journalism conventions, where, aside from learning about journalism, I truly learned what it meant to work as a team. Through the frustrations, challenges, achievements, and moments of joy and happiness, my connection to the school newspaper reached a whole new level.
Furthermore, being Editor in Chief has taught me a lot. Besides the basic journalism curriculum I had to study in 9th grade, I’ve learned how to become a better writer, how to take better photos, how to use WhatsApp (yeah, I know), and how to be a good leader, among many other things.
Specifically, one thing I must say I owe to my position would be a good PSAT and SAT English score. Because I have to edit so many articles, grammar questions aren’t too difficult for me, and my reading comprehension is pretty good as well.
I should mention, however, that none of the progress I or the school newspaper itself has made would have been possible without the help of other people. I must first thank Ms. Nawal Elnashar, the current Assistant Director of LHA, who was actually my 9th grade Journalism teacher and the reason why I joined the BHA Post in the first place. Aside from teaching me and the old staff of the BHA Post Journalism, Ms. Nawal gave me a great deal of advice, guidance, and she still continues to help the school newspaper out. I’ll say plainly that, without Ms. Nawal, the BHA Post wouldn’t exist.
Second, I have to thank Ms. Joanna and the board members of the BHA Post: Osayd, Zeina, Noor, Ahmed Sajjad, Haadeya, Ayra, Daanya, and Sarah. Ms. Joanna accepted the role of advisor this year, and has been a huge source of encouragement and support. Osayd, being much more experienced with club leadership, and busier than me, has given me advice at times when I’ve needed it the most. Zeina is always working on finding sponsors or making flyers, and Noor helps manage equipment and photos. Ahmed Sajjad, aside from making me laugh, is dedicated and ready to help out whenever needed. Haadeya and Ayra are great Online Editors, and they make my job of reviewing articles a lot easier. Lastly, Daanya and Sarah manage Broadcasting, taking a huge portion of work off my plate.
The last group of people I need to thank are the BHA Post’s old staff members from last year. Because last year was the first year of the school newspaper, things didn’t exactly go as planned. We didn’t accomplish as much as we had hoped, and barely anyone knew that we existed. Nonetheless, my old staff members were patient, and they have carried over their experience to this year, which makes me very grateful.
And of course, where would we be without all of our current BHA Post members? From writing to photography to video editing, this year’s staff has really brought a wave of energy to the newspaper that I hope will only grow.
Ultimately, I hope that I’ve convinced you to agree with both of the claims I made at the start of this article: that being Editor in Chief is challenging, yet rewarding. Believe me, I’ve struggled many times, and, as the BHA Post grows, things will only get harder. But that’s exactly the point. Growth demands more of you. It stretches you, tests you, and forces you to become more patient, more decisive, and more resilient than you were the day before.
From every late-night edit to every difficult decision I’ve had to make as Editor in Chief, it all adds up. Not just to a stronger newspaper, but to a stronger team. And while the deadlines can be stressful and the responsibility is heavy, there’s nothing quite like seeing a viewership spike on the school newspaper website, knowing that an entire team trusted you to help bring it to life.
So yes, it’s challenging. Yes, it can be overwhelming. But it’s also a privilege, to lead, to create, and to build something that represents our school’s voice.
And, at least for me, that makes every challenge worth it.
