For the Spring 2023 semester, I am at two very exciting points in my life. One, this is my (hopefully) last semester before I graduate. But more importantly I am living my dream of being Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Eastern News.

If you told 17-year-old me I would have my life and career set out for me she would never believe you. Let’s just say I am indecisive and at that time could not even choose a major. 

I first started my path to figuring out my life at Lake Land College in Mattoon. There I majored in liberal arts and decided I had two years to figure out what my major will be when I work towards my bachelors at Eastern after transferring.

Honestly, I was just procrastinating having to make a definitive choice. Luckily for me, while at Lake Land I joined the student-run newspaper The Navigator.

At the time I just thought “I enjoy writing, and I’ll get paid to write so why not.” This began the journey of figuring out my future.

At The Navigator, I was Copy Editor my first year and quickly set my hopes and dreams on being Editor-in-Chief my second and final year. For those who don’t know what an Editor-in-Chief is, it basically means I am the boss of the newspaper.

Then I managed to get the role of Editor-in-Chief. This was also the year of lockdown, which I like to just forget about.

It wasn’t until my second year at Lake Land and The Navigator that the time had come to enroll at Eastern and figure out the rest of my life.

Yet, being at The Navigator gave me a path I never considered; journalism.

Last year I transferred to Eastern to major in journalism, and I immediately applied to work at the News back during the spring semester I was finishing at Lake Land when the then Editor-in-Chief was hiring the editors for the next year.

Something to know about The Navigator, it was scheduled for printing only once a month, and I applied to be editor at a newspaper that printed daily.

Needless to say, last year I was known as the psycho who wanted to jump head first into the chaos of the News before I ever got adjusted to Eastern’s campus. Which I do not regret one bit.

I ended up being the Managing Editor for the Fall 2021 semester as my first role at the News. Then when we switched from printing daily to weekly it made it so a Managing Editor was not needed.

Then I began as News Editor in the Spring 2022 semester. I was then News Editor again for the Fall 2022 semester.

Now, not only was I crazy enough to want to jump head first into being an editor for the News, within a month I already built my next dream of being Editor-in-Chief. 

I am finally in my last semester before graduating fulfilling that dream. It hasn’t been a full week yet, and I already love it. I would gladly give my soul to this paper again and again if I had to like many Editor-in-Chiefs before me.

The dream of being Editor-in-Chief doesn’t just stop with obtaining the role, I also have many plans and goals for this semester that I can’t wait to achieve.

Madelyn Kidd is a senior journalism: public affairs reporting major. She can be contacted at 581-2812 or at DENeic@gmail.com.