The Colonnade, Georgia College & State University’s student newspaper, celebrated its 100th anniversary Friday, Oct. 17 during Multimedia Day on Front Campus.
A centennial year is a large number with the unspoken history of the college and it student’s voices lost to ink and paper and, more recently, the Internet. I worked on The Colonnade prior to becoming associate editor to The Baldwin Bulletin.
I graduated high school and attended Georgia College with enough credit to begin as a late sophomore. Thus, I immediately began journalism classes for my mass communication major. I was advised by my former mentor Dr.
Christina Smith to try writing for the newspaper as a freelancer before applying for a position.
My first article was on the new legal age to buy e-cigarettes. It was a blocky article printed with one graphic in 2020 on a topic I knew nothing about. The article quoted some student opinions on the topic but was majority research and statistics pulled from various sources. Almost a year after that article was published, I applied to be the assistant news editor and was hired.
During that one year, I was promoted to news desk editor and even offered the editor-inchief position, but I was graduating and could not take it. I had heard that my former assistant news desk editor, who I mentored and worked closely with, took the position after I graduated and did a wonderful job.
A full year and a month of my two-and-half year college career was spent with The Colonnade from pitch meetings to newspaper design. Weekly deadlines, meetings, and editing became a part of my daily routine outside of my classes and a fulltime job. Editor-in-Chief Eric Boyd and former News Desk Editor Kristin Maddox taught me all the essential skills I now apply to this newspaper.
Student media was not something available to me during my middle or high school years. Truthfully, I was unsure journalism was for me when I decided to pursue it, after a recommendation from a high school teacher.
But working on The Colonnade solidified my desire to be a journalist and to work specifically with small-town news.
I wanted to continue writing about events, businesses, and news that mattered where I was and it led me to Smith Communications.
Student media and clubs are highly beneficial to the community and to the student. That is why I’ve continued to work with the Department of Mass Communication to give GCSU students the chance to write professionally for The Baldwin Bulletin or layout the newspaper under my guidance. Together these opportunities teach the value in writing, the importance of local events and voices, and gives opportunities to explore Milledgeville beyond campus limits.
I’m thankful to The Colonnade for where it led me and commend the faculty and students who continue to keep it alive.