Austin Gude, JagWire ads manager

Austin Gude is the ads manager on the Jagwire for his third year on staff. He is a senior and really enjoys playing baritone in marching and concert band. Gude also enjoys working at Papa Murphy’s where he has been working for a year. Austin is really looking foreward to graduation where he will then go to Johnson County Community College.

Blog: Week 34: The end

This is the last week of newspaper, and therefore the last week that we will be editors-in-chief. We decided to dedicate our last blog to saying goodbye and reminiscing on memories from the year.

Sarah speaking:

Throughout this year, there have been a couple of times where I have either had to write or talk about the impact being on the newspaper staff has had on my life. On each of those occasions, I thought about how impossible a task  it is to describe everything that has come to be important to me in high school in merely a page or two. I first joined the newspaper staff because I liked to write. It was pretty simple. However, when I reflect back on my journalism experiences now, I can pinpoint specific moments when my journalism involvement altered some aspect of my life. I first felt myself gain independence when I went to Washington D.C. my sophomore year and I first did something truly spontaneous (at least for me) when I jumped in a fountain in the middle of the night with my staff at the first journalism camp I went to. There were other moments, too, when I felt myself age years when articles I or my staff members wrote prompted unexpected reaction. Most importantly, journalism made me recognize the good in people. Often times journalists see people in their most honest moments simply because they ask the questions no one else ever bothered to. I saw that kind of authenticity interviewing sources and I saw it too in the staff members who had never found a place they belonged before journalism.

Clearly I am biased, but I have long since decided that journalists are the best kind of people because they really care about others. Each and every one of the people on the journalism staff has made an impact on my life. I loved raving with a&e editor Austin Gillespie and web editor Kaitlin Rounds, saying awkward things to managing editor Sarah Fulton, driving around in the middle of nowhere with photographer Kelsey Floyd and yelling at and often laughing with the man cave row in class, to name a few memories. And to top off such an amazing staff, I couldn’t have asked for a better co-editor in Jill. Jill is such a strong, caring and talented person and she helped me become a stronger person this year. I don’t think any of you could ever imagine the joy you bring to my life. The tears will be rollin’ next week at our end of the year banquet! Thank you for the time of my life.

Jill speaking:

This has by far been the best year of high school that I have had in all of the four years I have been here, and if I could pin that on any one reason, it would be newspaper and being an editor-in-chief. It has been so great to manage a publication of so many passionate students and I enjoy being able to say that at one point, I was able to be a leader on this incredibly successful paper. I love Sarah, and there is no one I would have rather done this with than her. I am proud of the strides this paper has taken, and I am so proud of all of her success this year. I will never forget the ridiculous worknight conversations the staff had, the stressful situations we got ourselves into and being able to spend time with 30 awesome people for hours every week. Some of my favorite memories include making fun of Sarah with Austin Gillespie, or rapping to “The Show Goes On” with Jack Lopez. Teasing Austin “Gudez” Gude and Adam Henderson was always a joy and I loved getting to teach people about design and watching new designers make things they can be proud of. I would like to thank everyone on newspaper for making this a fantastic year, and I can’t wait to see all of the amazing things the returning members do next year.

Seeing as it’s the end of the year, our time learning lessons as editors-in-chief are over. However, just for old time’s sake:

Lesson 34 of being an editor-in-chief: Check.

Week 29: Worknight memories

Every issue deadline, the Newspaper has two “worknights” designed to help our staff complete the issue. The first worknight of the month lasts from 3-5 p.m. and then the following week on a Monday after the short worknight, we always have a “long” worknight which lasts from 3-9 p.m. Being in a room full of crazy journalists for that long inevitably leads to some funny memories.

Sarah speaking:

Most of my memories involving worknights involve jokes about taking clothes off. The journalism room has 30 computers, all generating heat, and when the air conditioning turns off through out the school after 4 p.m., the room only gets hotter. Many staff members bring their worknight clothes, often bringing shorts and a tank top to change into even in the middle of winter. Even with staff dressed as appropriately as possible, the number of times I have heard people say they’re going to take their pants off or start singing “It’s getting so hot in here, I’m gonna take my clothes off,” are hard to count.

Another favorite memory of mine involves something we have called the quote pumpkin. The quote pumpkin is a plastic Halloween candy bucket that gets filed every year with funny quotes from our staff. The quote pumpkin is entertaining every day but on worknights, tons of quotes are added to the pumpkin. Here are a few of my (appropriate) favorites in the pumpkin right now:

“Children love me,” newspaper a&e editor Austin Gillespie

“AP style gold digger,” Gillespie

“The man cave is filthy,” newspaper reporter Sydney Wilson

“KRounds [Kaitlin Rounds], you sound like my diabetic cat when we don’t give it its meds,” newspaper managing editor Sarah Fulton

“Why are you wearing my jacket?” newspaper photographer Alec Santaularia

“Because I wanted to smell like a man,” newspaper ads manager Austin Gude

“I don’t hate this song, that would be like hating butterflies,” yearbook editor-in-chief Katherine Beck

“It would be funny if we threw out some random candy, like dental floss,” adviser Kathy Habiger on things to hand out off the newspaper Homecoming float

“Does anyone here have a phone charger?” Mama Flinn [newspaper reporter Alana Flinn’s mom]

Jill speaking:

Worknight is always a time when tensions run high, which consequentially makes everyone’s jokes that much funnier. Some of my favorite worknight memories involve Gillespie and I making fun of Sarah. He and I enjoy photoshopping funny pictures of Sarah and hanging them on the back wall. I, like Sarah, also enjoy the many jokes about people taking their clothing off. We have even talked about making shirts that say “Newspaper worknight: I took my pants off for this,” an idea that has, unfortunately, never come to fruition. Lastly, one of my favorite worknight memories in specific comes from not this year, but last year. Our adviser Kathy Habiger came running out of her office with photographer Taylor Young’s caption rough draft in her hand, screaming about how Taylor had decided to abbreviate March to Mar. Upon hearing this, then editor-in-chief Kaitlyn Butko began to promptly run around the room, changing every page’s folio from Mar. to March. What made if even better was the the song “We No Speak Americano” by Yolanda Be Cool was playing at the time, which provided the perfect setting for Kaitlyn to be scurrying around the room to fix her mistake.

Lesson of the week:

1. High stress situations can lead to some funny experiences.

Lesson 29 of being an editor-in-chief: Check.

Seniors move up to higher competition

This year, seniors moving on to play a sport in college is not out of place; it is becoming more and more common.

With a record number of seven football players signing, head coach George Radell can see how it can impact the program.

“It gives young kids a realistic expectation that if they work hard they can have the opportunity to gain scholarships and play college sports,” Radell said.

Radell believes that they will be tested by different coaching styles, but that they will be able to adjust to it.

Different coaches will be more demanding and a lot less patient,” Radell said. “The coach will probably not deliver the message in such a nice way, but they’ll get used to that aspect of it.”

For senior Tyler Gude, the coach was a main reason he chose to sign with Ottawa University for both track and cross country.

“He’s a great guy. He makes you feel comfortable and he genuinely cares about me,” Gude said. “And [my future teammates] are very friendly and they made sure to make me feel welcome.”

Senior Jenna Wells signed with Allen County Community College for soccer after she met the coach and was able to tour the campus.

“I liked the homey feeling when I was down there and the coach was really nice,” Wells said.

Senior Austin Muckenthaler, who signed with Bethel College to play basketball, took academics into consideration when choosing a college.

“I wanted engineering and it was one of the few places I could play basketball and do engineering,” Muckenthaler said.

Gude stuck with both track and cross country not only for the fun, but also to get scholarship opportunities to further his college plans. Through personal connections, Gude found out about the openings on the teams. He chose Ottawa once he checked into certain programs.

“I want to major in information technology and I really like their program,” Gude said. “And I worked with the coach’s father and he got me interested.”

Muckenthaler says he will be able to handle the transition to the next level, but it may take a little time.

“[The hardest part] will be having to adjust to everyone being a lot bigger than in high school,” Muckenthaler said. “I’m not going to be one of the biggest kids out there anymore.”

Gude also expects greater competition and is ready to improve himself.

“When I went from middle school to high school, my times decreased significantly,” Gude said. “I’m looking forward to college to try and get them to drop also.”

Signing with Pittsburg State University for pole vaulting, Ashley Bowman is only apprehensive of one thing.

“Just getting used to a new coach and a new vaulting style,” Bowman said.

On the whole, Bowman says that she is ready to move on to the next chapter of her life.

“[I’m looking forward to] meeting my new team and making Pitt my home for the next four years,” Bowman said.

Senior Luke Lawyer has signed for baseball with Oklahoma University and is excited for the automatic fan base and energy that comes with college athletics.

“I’m looking forward to the atmosphere,” Lawyer said. “And it’s going to be the gateway to reaching my ultimate goal of having baseball as my career.”

Wells will miss the camaraderie with her teammates.

“I’ve played with most of them for three or four years and I know how they play,” Wells said. “And I love how open we are with each other.”

Lawyer sees nothing holding him back, except for his mother’s home-cooked dinners.

“I’m not really [dreading anything]. I’ll be a little homesick; I’ll miss my mom’s meals,” Lawyer said. “I love my mom’s cooking.”