Column by Stephanie Kocer

I think part of the reason people like or dislike their job has a lot to do with the people they work with.

This year at The Times-Delphic I got to work with a group of students who are not only intelligent and good at what they do, but also a group that I can call my friends.

When I first started working at The Times-Delphic I was a copy editor and didn’t spend a whole lot of time in the office.

Then, second semester, our previous Features/Op-Ed editor went abroad and I was asked to take her place.

I couldn’t refuse. It was a job I always wanted.

Looking back over all of the stressful nights I spent planning budgets and bothering people with incessant emails this past semester, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Despite having to work at 8 a.m. every Sunday, I got to help produce a newspaper twice a week with some really amazing people.

If you’re going to spend late nights and early mornings with the same group of people every week they better be people you like. The TD staff is a really weird, dysfunctional family.

When I stepped in as the new Features/Op-Ed editor, my fellow section editors and everyone else on staff welcomed me and made me feel like just another family member.

That family mentality is how we got through every issue this past year and, of course, the Relays Edition.

We also get through every issue by listening to awful pop radio on Pandora (because nobody else will let me listen to Eminem in the office).

The only other way to get through a stressful layout is through laughter.

We do a lot of laughing here at the TD. Sometimes it’s because we are overtired, sometimes because we have to laugh instead of cry (yes, I have almost cried before) and mostly because we make each other laugh.

I want to take this opportunity to thank the other staff members for making every layout fun and putting together quality papers every week for Drake University.

It’s about to get sappy. I apologize.

First, I want to thank my designer Paityn. Everyone knows that I do not do InDesign. I mean I can barely open an InDesign page sometimes. Paityn is an InDesign wizard, and I am in awe of her every week. She is always patient with me and helped me brainstorm ideas when we had to get creative with our pages.

Our news editor Hayleigh was new to staff this semester, too, so I didn’t feel so alone. I think Hayleigh is one of the coolest people I know.

She comes with a lot of sass and pictures of her adorable cat. She also knows the words to any glitter pop and hip-hop song. Hayleigh’s designer Gaby is also a gem. She always deals with my crazy and comes with magical tales of Colorado.

When it’s 8 a.m. on a Sunday morning and you’re still waiting for people to turn in their stories, you can get a little frustrated and discouraged. At least I always knew I would have photos in from our photo editor Luke. He’s very reliable.

Also, who else can do the Chandler Bing dance at 8 a.m. to make you feel better? That’s not a joke.

I have to give a special thanks to Austin, our lovely sports editor. I think he has heard more about my personal struggles and love life than any person ever should. He always listens (but that might be because our office is small and there is nowhere else for him to hide) and never fails to make me laugh. Austin always has the best one-liners.

Then there’s our fantastic editor-in-chief, Taylor. I really can’t think of a better person to have run the TD this year than Soule Train. She’s probably one of the most brilliant people I know, and she is a great journalist.

I have to thank her for being patient with me when I started at semester time and, more importantly, being one of my best friends here at Drake. Our late-night talks have gotten me through this past semester.

So, thank you to the incredible staff I spend way too much time with, and everyone else that helps out with the TD and who helped with the Relays Edition. I’ve had the best time this year with all of you and I will miss our shenanigans.

Kocer is a junior magazines and English double major and can be reached at [email protected]