Even though I knew being part of the Élan staff would be a unique experience, I didn’t know the extent to which this experience would impact me. Before joining the staff, I knew that I would write for the rest of my life after leaving Douglas Anderson. That was pretty much a given ever since I first decided that I enjoyed writing, even before getting into this high school, and regardless of the fact that I will pursue a mechanical engineering degree after I leave this school. But Élan made me realized that not only did I want to write after leaving the public education system; I wanted to be part of writing. By this, I mean that I now have a goal to continue my involvement with the literary community following my departure from high school.
One of the things that I have actually considered through my college decision-making process is the quality of each college’s literary magazine. I want to be part of something big, and to help spread the word using my own skillset that I have developed through my time in Élan. I want to make a contribution to the literary community through more than my own writing, and I know that I would not have felt this way if I hadn’t been part of the Élan staff.
On a lower scale, I wouldn’t have thought of myself as a huge team-player type of person in terms of responsibilities. But the first year that I was part of the staff, I shared the Social Media Editor title with two other people, Dwight and Claudia. I had to learn how to both delegate and handle tasks in order to make the social media branch of Élan function. Even this year, social media is split between me and McKenzie Fox; I handle Facebook and Instagram, and she takes care of Twitter. We depend on each other to make sure each platform has been communicated to, and together, we have helped the follower count for each of these platforms to rise significantly.
I know that the legacy that I leave for Élan is the type that must be maintained. What I mean is that the status of our social media reach is in the hands of the person who will take over control of that branch of our magazine, and my accomplishments within this branch are not necessarily permanent. But I think that I gave a lot to our magazine this year in terms of my editorial position, and aside from that, I was one of the main players in the creation of our National Poetry Month Reading and Gallery event. So I leave the responsibility of keeping this legacy alive to the next people to join the Élan staff. It’s kind of hard to let go when I’ve been a part of this magazine for the past two years, but I know that I have to move on to different things, and contribute to different parts of the literary world. And I think that with new staff members, our magazine will continue to grow. So good luck, newcomers! It’s a hefty job and you’ll love every second of it!
-Logan Monds, Social Media Editor