Working together

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. ~Margaret Meade

Teamwork. The greatest of groups have either survived or failed because the of the efforts of the members to work together. As one team.

This is what I believe makes for a successful newspaper as well. At least, this is one of the things. Working at The Patriot, I have witnessed teamwork in action. Sure, there are times when one or two pull the weight more so than anyone else, but later the situations are often reversed. That's what makes a good team. Being able to help your coworker out and carry some of their load when things are too heavy for them. Because in the end, it doesn't matter who did what job, what matters is that the job is finished.

Or, in our case, the paper is out. 

This is something that I believe Kaitlin, and the rest of us executive staff, have been able to achieve this year. We finally found our pattern and method. As Kristin, our design editor, has heard several times, "We'll make it work." And I believe we have. Especially this issue. (It will hit campus tomorrow!) I, personally, would not have been able to 'make it work' without her help or that of our other staff members.

Before joining the executive staff, I was rather clueless about how things worked here at The Patriot. The summer before, I had the opportunity to work at The Casey County News. This was through a summer internship program with the Kentucky Press Association. Being a smaller paper, everyone works together there. They all share the weight. That was my first and only experience with a news office, so I was unsure what to expect coming in here.

However, I found that our staff, here at The Patriot, is very much like that at The Casey News. We are like a family. And when things are harder on a certain member of that family, someone steps in to help them out. This is our success. This is how the group lasts. I am thankful that our group is one such as this.

I hope that my next job, wherever that may be, has this same atmosphere. Being a family and team is vital to a group's survival, as far as I'm concerned.

Of course, the beauty to being a "family" is that we are all a bit kooky. That, I think, is also required. Lewis Carroll said it best, "We're all mad here."

In life, you can never take yourself too seriously. It's important remember that. If you aren't willing to laugh at yourself, you can easily get your feelings hurt. And families are the place that one is most likely to get laughed. You just have to see the humor as well. It will make things much more interesting.

And maybe, with the help of your team, you can change the world. Or at least your world. I like to think that we are having an effect on Cumberland. I suppose only time will tell.