KYLIE SCHWAB

ANTELOPE STAFF

Coming into college, I knew what I liked to do. I liked taking pictures, and I did some writing in high school. But, mostly, I liked to take pictures. 

It took me a couple of major changes before I landed myself with a journalism major and a photo minor. I really enjoyed these classes, and I began to familiarize myself with my department.

That’s when I found The Antelope.

I had heard about The Antelope, and I was recruited my freshman year. I would occasionally help out with random photo assignments, maybe one or two a week. I didn’t commit a lot of time to the newspaper that year. That wasn’t until I took the classes required for my major in which we produce stories weekly for print.

This gave me a taste of what I could expect from the world of journalism. I became more exposed to the beats that student journalists follow, and I learned more about how to report on events happening on campus.

My second semester of contributing under the class opened up more hard-hitting and investigative stories for me. I also began photographing more events than just the ones I was writing about. This gave me the opportunity to see my images on the front page and across photo spreads.

I really fell in love with contributing to a team. The Antelope made me feel like a valued part of their team.

In spring 2021, I accompanied them on a trip to New York City. This was huge for me. I had never been to New York before, and this was going to be my first trip through the university. There, we attended a College Media Association conference where we brought back critiques on our latest issue and knowledge back to our staff in The Antelope newsroom.

Returning from that trip began a new journey for me in The Antelope.

I was to be stepping up as the Photography Editor the following fall semester, and my last semester here at UNK.

Previously I had only contributed as a photographer and staff member. Taking on the photo editor position, I was going to be accepting a role of leadership. Something that I was tasked with was building our team of photographers.

Coming into the fall semester, there were three photographers. Myself, Shelby (who also writes for us) and Kolton who also designs for us. All of them are upperclassmen who will be graduating within the next two years.

I worked really hard to try and recruit underclassmen who have a passionate interest for photography like I did my freshman year. Thankfully, I built up our team a little bit so our other staff members don’t have to worry about taking photos as well.

It feels bittersweet as these past couple of weeks go by, and we get closer to graduation. I have grown so much in my writing skills, interviewing, photography and confidence, thanks to The Antelope. I don’t think I will ever be able to express how grateful I am for the connections, opportunities and friendships that I have made through this publication.