Progressing through her years in Journalism, Photo and Co-Managing editor Lindsey Smith worked hard to make her way to the top. Smith helped lead her team to win many awards in the Florida Scholastic Press Association (FSPA). She began her journey in Journalism 1 with Mr. Fagen in her freshman year of high school, was a staff member for The CHAT sophomore year, editor for arts and entertainment her junior year, and finally, Photo and Co-Managing editor senior year while assisting the digital Editor-In-Chief Sophia Lopez.
Smith’s passion for photography and writing has been incredibly strong ever since she was a freshman entering her Journalism 1 class. This class helped her to ameliorate her skills in both photography and writing and to find her true interests. During her junior year as an arts and entertainment editor, she found herself stuck figuring out what position to apply for. “When it came time to apply for new positions, I was torn between concentrating on photos or maintaining my writing, I decided to try to bridge the gap and go for one of the managing editor positions”, shares Smith.
As Smith continued to her senior year as Photo and Co-Managing editor, she realized that many challenges came with the job such as teaching underclassmen, being loud enough, and having to show them how to access certain files. “The digital class was made up of entirely new students, so the photography team didn’t know how to navigate the budget, add photos to the drive, and the process of getting in touch with other students to take photos, so it was a rough beginning trying to figure out how to get my voice heard and educate the other photographers,” expresses Lindsey. As Photo editor Smith dedicated all her time and effort to teaching future digital photographers how to take the best photos for them to be the most successful. With all of Smith’s training and hard work, she was able to make the photography team excel in all their photos and earn many individual awards at FSPA.
Walking into newspaper class and signing into the computers or turning her camera on was an extremely big part of Smith’s life for three years, which causes her to have many emotions as graduation day comes closer. “It’s a bit tough to imagine not having a newspaper class to go to anymore. I have made so many friends, acquaintances, and memories, and learned many lessons, and for that, I will forever be grateful. I couldn’t imagine my high school experience without a newspaper.
Smith will continue her path at the University of South Florida where, “I plan to pursue both physical therapy and something to do with international relations, although I am still trying to figure out a way to find the balance between two unrelated degrees,” Smith says while laughing. She also plans to join USF’s newspaper called The Oracle because she knows photography and writing will forever play an important role in her life.
