Coming into freshman year at Sacred Heart, I didn’t even know what Spectrum was. I saw a few racks with newspapers around campus but never really enjoyed writing, so I figured it wasn’t for me. Fast forward to fall semester of my sophomore year, I found myself writing for the sports section of the paper.
It was fun, interviewing people and covering the Pioneers, but it wasn’t what I wanted to do. While writing for the paper, I also was a part of the advertising sales team. Finally, I think I found something I wanted to do. I worked hard to try and get people to advertise in our paper, and while doing that, I made relationships and had some amazing conversations with people.
When the advertising position opened up, I was hesitant to apply. But after some consideration I went ahead applied and got the job. This is where the true story begins.
But it wasn’t until my junior year where I truly fell in love with Spectrum. I got to work with Bryan Kelleher, who at the time was the business manager and I was the advertising manager. We worked together for a year, and worked extremely well together. Now, I consider Bryan one of my good friends. If it wasn’t for spectrum, I most likely would of never met him.
There was also someone else that inspired me to work harder and truly showed me what I wanted to do in my career. Professor Joanne Kabak was not only a good advisor and professor, but she was a great role model to me.
Professor Kabak would be someone I talked to on a daily basis and would always be in touch with. We would talk about how ad sales were going, new ways we could advertise and things that Spectrum could use. As fast as my junior year started it was coming to an end. Luckily for me, I had the pleasure to work with Kabak for another year, but now as the Multimedia and Business manager.
Being a higher position on the board made our relationship stronger and made Spectrum more enjoyable for me. Every year starting with a new board is different, but different doesn’t mean bad. This year was a very exciting/hardworking year for us. As a whole board, we went through many ups and downs, but we always managed to find our way out and produce a good paper.
Being the Multimedia and Business manager was a rewarding position. I wasn’t the one who was the face of the paper, but I was the one who worked to make it function. On the same point, Professor Kabak was in the same boat as I. But that didn’t affect the way we worked and the great things we produced.
As my time comes to an end, I look back and I am extremely grateful for the opportunity’s I was granted. I learned more than I could of imagined from Spectrum. There is one person I owe many thanks to, and that is Professor Kabak.
Our relationship grew past Spectrum. She helped me grow as a student and as a person, allowing me to do my best work. From talking about Spectrums budgets or just having a conversation about my future plans, Kabak was always there. She was that one person that always put 100% percent into things, asked questions and made sure everyone was involved.
Professor Kabak, thank you. Spectrum and Sacred Heart is lucky to have someone like you. Thank you for teaching me the true ways of journalism. Thank you for being more than a professor. Thank you.
