STAFFER TAKEOVER: Make the Best Out of Your YBK Experience

This blog post was submitted and written by a fellow yearbooker.  

Wow. Senior year. It’s hard to believe that my high school and yearbook experience is almost over. Being on the yearbook staff for four years is a long time. Can you imagine all the captions I probably wrote over four years? Being on the yearbook staff as both a staffer and editor, I’ve figured out a few ways to make the most of the yearbook experience. 

GO TO THE GAMES! 

Trust me. You can take pictures, even if you’re not the best photographer. The more pictures you take, the better you get. Also, those pictures you take might be needed later in the book. (It’s never fun when you don’t have enough pictures for a page.) Not only can you get pictures at the events, but you can also do interviews in the moment while it’s still fresh on people’s minds. (Because it’s also never fun interviewing a week later and all they say is “it was fun”.) While you’re there, you can write down the stats of the game, so you won’t have to rely on other sources (like a coach who never checks their emails.) Not only is this good for the book, but it’s also good for you. Future you will be so thankful you went for the experience. 

DON’T STRESS ABOUT DEADLINES! 

I mean yes, you should stress about them a little bit. Just don’t worry about them so much you fall behind on other things. I know sometimes it can feel overwhelming, but just look at each category separately. Focus on designs first, get all your mods in a row and make sure it aligns with the flow of the book. Then focus on photos. That way, you know exactly who to interview. After that, all that’s left is to write copy for the page. If you break it up into smaller hills, deadlines won’t feel so much like mountains. The more you worry the less you’ll get done. So, just focus on your tasks one day at a time and it’ll relieve stress in the end. 

LISTEN TO OTHER OPINIONS! 

I know, I know. Sometimes it can be hard to hear from another staffer that something you worked hard on is not absolutely perfect, but they’re honestly trying to help. Your fellow staffers know how great you are and what you can do. Hear them out. Also, don’t forget to listen to feedback from students at your school. I personally love eShare just for this reason. It lets students submit photos to be considered for the yearbook. Not only will the students feel more included, but it also helps your staff out by having more pictures to choose from while working on a page. 

I loved yearbook so much, and I’m going to miss it a lot when I graduate in May. I’ll never forget the memories I made these last four years. Being on the yearbook staff helped me break out of my shell and truly enjoy my high school experience. Don’t forget to have FUN because yearbook is definitely not all headlines and deadlines.

Author:

Kylee Hickingbottom // Yearbook Staffer at Beekman Charter School, Bastrop, LA

Want to share your yearbook experience, tips or tricks? Learn more at herff.ly/ybkinfluencer