FULLMER

OPINION COLUMN Scroll more than just a newspaper

JULIA FULLMER FUL02007@BYUI.EDU life happens

To the outside, Scroll looks like a typical newspaper organization with a staff that remains objective and focused on one thing only — getting the news out to the public.

While it is true that our primary — and most important — focus is acting as a gatekeeper of information to our readers, Scroll means much more than news.

It is a place we can call home and a place where we can hang our hats. Some of us spend so much time in the office that others have mistaken it for our place of residence. After all, we have everything one could need.

We have a refrigerator, a microwave, a couch and, of course, our coveted candy jar to help us survive the fast-paced production.

It is also a place were we have made friendships that will last longer than most of our news stories.

Anyone who has worked for the Scroll has become part of a group we so lovingly refer to as “Scrollies.” To us, being a Scrollie is much more than being just a reporter, editor, photographer or advertiser.

Week after week we spend hours together in Spori 114 getting our newspaper ready for print.

It is during these times together that we share each others’ joys and sorrows.

We rejoice when things go right in the lives of the staff. We mourn when things go wrong in the lives of the staff. We have seen each other in the best of times and in the worst of times.

We are there for each other, just as a family is there for each other.

We even have a Scroll Mom. Karen Newman, the business manager for Scroll, is not only there to help keep us in line but has been there if we ever need someone to talk to.

There are days when the production of the newspaper seems so overwhelming that we don’t know how we will pull through it.

But we have never failed yet. There is always someone there to help us out of a jam at the last minute.

Scrollies through the ages have headed off on different roads. Some have had very successful careers in the world of communications.

There are filmmakers, journalists, TV reporters, high school journalism teachers and so on. But no matter what path they choose we all have a common tie — we were all once Scrollies.

Being a Scrollie has been an amazing privilege in my life. Sure, we have our share of quirks but these quirks, make us stand out above the rest.

I wouldn’t trade being a Scrollie for anything. All of the sweat, toil and hard work has been worth the privilege I have of counting myself as a Scrollie.