Honors Beacon Editor
For the first time in my college experience, I undertook a formal leadership position, which has turned out to be quite an unexpected serendipity. During the spring semester of 2023 I wrote an article for the Honors Beacon, which was an experience I thoroughly enjoyed in its own. The Beacon is a publication produced by the Honors Program that details current university events and student experiences; it is released each year in the spring and sent to alumni. The following semester I was made aware that the editor position for the Beacon was open however, I initially was not interested because I felt my current course load and work schedule was already more than enough responsibility for the 2023-2024 academic year. After an extended period of time, I noticed in the newsletter that the position was still unfilled, and after further contemplation I figured I might as well give it a try. I knew the Beacon had a long history with the Honors Program, and I did not want to see its publication interrupted simply because there was no editor. Throughout my time as editor, I have had to utilize leadership skills more than any other experience, but I have still found my previous college experiences to be immensely helpful.
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Besides my self-perceived time constraints, another reason I was hesitant to take the position of Honors Beacon Editor was my lack of experience with the software and graphic design elements, that I knew would be necessary to create a polished finished product. I found that my experience working at the archives and constantly learning how to use new technology and software programs translated well for me being able to learn how to use Canva, the site I used to design the format for the Honors Beacon. This was more of the initiative and responsibility side of leadership associated with the Beacon, which I also had experience doing during my time at the archives. The collaboration experience I had while working at the archives would also come into play, but with the more authoritative side of leadership as editor.
The more formal side of leadership concomitant with being an editor was related to multiple prior experiences. Perhaps most importantly, was that of having been a writer for the Beacon. Being a writer allowed me to witness firsthand the previous editor’s approach and how effective I thought it was. The approach taken by the previous editor was one that granted the writers a lot of freedom in choosing what they wanted, and despite the deadlines needed for the beacon to be released on time, it felt relatively self-paced. This was definitely something I wanted to make sure to incorporate into my style because I wanted the writers to write about what they wanted and not feel rushed, not choose a topic for them with stringent inflexible deadlines. I believe doing this creates a more enticing prospect for potential writers.
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Being the editor for the Beacon was surprisingly similar to the limited role of leadership I used during intramural soccer. As a captain of the intramural soccer team, one of the two responsibilities I considered to be formal was communicating with teammates. Likewise, as an editor for the Beacon I had to send more emails than at any other point in my life. Initially, it was desperately trying to find writers, given the late start to the process as I officially started the position around a month into the semester. Originally, I focused on the responsibilities that came with being a writer. However, after that generated no responses whatsoever, I focused more on the freedom writers had and the time they had to write an article, specifically mentioning they were able to wait until winter break to start writing. This approach generated far more responses. It then became communicating with writers, which ended up being a lot more than I anticipated given the lack of responses over the first couple weeks. Unlike my tenure as soccer captain, this communication accumulated in more formal meetings where I would explain the responsibilities that writers had and the small amount of parameters for the writers, such as page constraints.
Similarly, I drew on the leadership I witnessed at the archives in my formal leadership. At the archives the staff is fully committed to being flexible and understanding of students and I tried to replicate that, while still making sure things stayed on track. I did this by sending occasional emails checking in on progress and extending my availability if needed. I also tried to work around schedules by having individual zoom meetings for those who could attend group meetings.
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Ironically, the theme for the beacon became leadership itself. There are a few different reasons for this. First and foremost, I believe it fits well with the given topics. As a history major, I would have enjoyed overseeing an edition oriented around the history of the university in some way, but that was the theme of the last edition. Furthermore, none of the writers’ interests really aligned with that theme and enforcing a topic would be converse to my leadership philosophy. The first article suggested was a poem about leadership and soon after an interview with Dean Brown about leadership came up as a potential article. Additionally, I thought focusing on the leadership part of a student’s research would be a unique way to highlight research, a student’s research work had been in every prior edition, while simultaneously sticking with the demarcations of the broad theme of leadership. Lastly, given leadership is one of the competencies in the Honors Program, I thought it would be a good way to highlight an aspect of the curriculum that makes the Honor Program at Mankato stand out.
There were a lot of things I took away from this position and things which I can draw on in future leadership roles. I think I was able to utilize some of my strengths identified in the Clifton Strength-Finder. Responsibility was the most significant throughout this experience as I had to oversee others and make sure everything got done on schedule. To some extent my strength as a developer also played a role in guiding others and helping provide them a platform to express their work. If I ever find myself in a formal leadership position where I have to supervise others, I will be sure to remember to contemplate how certain needs or goals may or may not be beneficial for individuals and work with their needs.
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This experience also bolstered my belief and commitment to a leadership style based on transparency, communication, and collaboration. During my interview with Dean Brown for the article on leadership, all those elements were key components to his leadership philosophy. I not only fully agree, but it seems like most students and staff in his college appreciate his approach as well. I also will be sure to use a more authoritative approach if things need to get done at a faster pace. This was something I experienced a little bit of as the editor of the Beacon, but I also saw how if things went differently more intervention would have been necessary to meet deadlines. I learned firsthand why it is important to have deadlines for those under you that are earlier than your own, as a precautionary measure to provide yourself with some flexibility. For my future after graduation whether it is an internship or entry level job, I believe the collaboration experience I gained during my time as editor and the responsibility associated with the position will be beneficial. In the end I was very proud of all the writers’ work and how the final product turned out.
