I joined the Alligator believing I wanted to be better than it.
Finishing event coverage Sunday at 10 p.m., waking up early to write and transcribing my interviews all morning, I felt a blow to my ego when I saw the same story printed on that morning’s paper.
Being scooped on two stories I wrote for a Fall 2022 reporting course, I was spurred to join the paper that seemed to be steps ahead of me. Factoring my inexperience, it was my intention to start as a designer and work my way to being a reporter, eventually following the same track that led many of my peers to editor-in-chief.
If I had to take one thing from my time at the Alligator, it is to make do with what’s given.
For more times that I can count, most of my opportunities at the paper seemed to be through chance and comic misunderstanding.
When I was first hired as a designer, I was informed the position I applied for was nothing like I anticipated and involved an entirely different skill set from what I had. I did it anyway and took that opportunity to move on to multiple editor positions and a New York Times program.
Deciding that I was going to leave the paper after I wasn’t able to get an editor position, I let a friend convince me to stay long enough to become a managing editor, the second highest student position.
From Instagram hate comments to seeing my work on my friend’s walls, I discovered a deep appreciation for work that impacted people.
The work I have done through this paper has humbled me, pushed me to my limits and given me something to be proud of. Even when I disappointed myself with a shoddy graphic or half-baked story, I was inspired by the guts and ambition of my peers to move forward.
I’ve seen cutthroat staff meetings change to chatty congregations, strangers turn to people who have seen me at my highest and lowest points and nightmarishly long print nights shorten to evenings where I get to spend more time with my friends.
That being said, I wouldn’t have made it here without the guidance and patience of my fellow managing editors, Aidan Bush and Valentina Sandoval; my multimedia editors, Minca Davis and Lauren Whiddon; and too many staff members and friends to count.
I am leaving the Alligator knowing that it made me better.
Diego Perdomo was the Summer 2024 Digital Managing Editor at The Independent Florida Alligator.
Diego Perdomo is a senior journalism major and the Summer 2024 Digital Managing Editor. He previously worked as the data reporter, design editor and a graphic designer. Outside of his studies, he likes to read comic books, bike and wonder how life would be outside of a car-dependent society.
