Don't sleep through this opportunity

By Anna Wilde     8/19/10 7:00pm

Welcome, and welcome back. For those of you about to complete The Best Week of Your Life, I hope that you managed to get some sleep in the process. You've only just begun a nonstop four-year (give or take a year) adventure that will leave you wondering why you ever protested naptime in kindergarten.

For those of you who have already done this song and dance a few times already, I hope that you also managed to get some sleep between summer research, internships and other adventures.

Suffice it to say that in facing the beginning of the end of my time at Rice, I'm perhaps more apprehensive about keeping my good sleeping record from the summer going than I am about job searches, resume revisions and all of the other fun aspects of joining the real world.

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After all, we don't sleep at Rice. Those of us on staff at the Thresher especially don't sleep.

"What is the Thresher?" you new students may ask. Well, according to the page opposite this column, the Rice Thresher is the official student newspaper at Rice University since 1916.

And that's the extent of your thoughts about the purpose of the Thresher as Rice's student-run publication as you quickly flip to the Backpage.

But have you ever considered working for the Thresher?

New students, you've already been bombarded with information about joining different organizations from packets, fliers and fairs. I encourage you to be open to trying something new - especially something different from what you did in high school - but also be wary of overbooking yourself. Both are easy to accomplish at a school with so many options when it comes to extracurricular activities.

Those of you who aren't new students are, rather than looking for new organizations to join, probably trying to figure out how to get out of some of the organizations that you got involved with during freshman year, in hopes of having better grades or maybe just an opportunity to check out that whole sleep thing I was talking about a few minutes ago.

However, you are also the ones who are already familiar with the Thresher. Maybe the extent of your familiarity is the progression of the Backpage. Maybe you skim through the pages to find out the latest news, entertainment and sports information as it pertains to Rice. Maybe you check out the Calendar and do the crossword during lunch. Maybe you go to our website, www.ricethresher.org, and leave an insightful comment about what should be done better.

Well, if you have good ideas, why aren't you on the Thresher staff?

I don't have sarcastic intentions behind that question. (At least, not all of the time.) It really does puzzle me when people easily offer up advice and corrections for the paper but are not as willing to put it into action themselves.

Yes, we know that you're busy. However, you can choose your level of commitment here at the Thresher. Sure, you could end up like me and start wishing that the RMC had showers so that you could officially live in the office.

Or, you could take a healthier approach by only writing one column a week. By taking on one two-hour copy-editing shift. Signing up for one photography assignment. Coming in to do layout or design for a couple of hours. That's right; you don't have to be a writer to work for the Thresher, nor do you have to have newspaper experience. I'll let you in on a little secret: When I started at the Thresher during my first O-Week, I didn't have a shred of newspaper experience, nor was I a writer. (I'm still not, as you can tell from this column.)

Give it a shot. We'll train you in whatever you'd like to do, whether it's writing, design, editing or photography. The bottom line is: The Thresher is the only student organization that pays all of its members.

We even have couches in the office where you can catch up on those sought-after ZZZs.

Anna Wilde is a Martel College senior and Thresher editor in chief. For more information on joining the Thresher staff, please send an email to thresher@rice.edu.

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