Life is a series of blank pages waiting to be filled

Gracious God. The last few sands of my university hourglass are
slipping away. Just yesteryear I started out at UCLA not knowing
the importance of a pica. I was one of the many who would walk by
Kerckhoff 118, home of the Daily Bruin newsroom, not knowing what
it was.

I entered this paradoxically windowless place as a freshman, and
it has since become an unparalleled classroom ““ teaching and
showing me the unexpected for the past four years.

Every time I would come to work, pages of the newspaper would
stare blankly back at me, simply seeking to be filled. Huge chunks
of it would be labeled “ad space,” and I would have the
privilege of designing the rest of the white space by placing
stories, photographs and graphics, working alongside others to
produce this daily product.

And then the process would start all over again the next
day.

Although this may be my only published article, being a part of
design journalism has taught me to see beyond the simple aesthetics
of a page. It has brought me to learn how to be a team player, to
be aware of the real and relevant news for a reader, and to be
flexible for the unanticipated and late-breaking.

Design journalism is working late into the night when the
country is on the brink of war to design the front-page news. It is
capturing the essence of being a Bruin in a sports rivalry v. USC.
It is redesigning the entire section with the impromptu notice of a
robbery in Saxon Suites. It is seeing a football or basketball
defeat day after day.

Every morning it is the thrill of seeing the kiosks freshly
lined with reams of the paper and seeing your layout in print
““ a piece of you on the page.

The blank pages that waited to be filled with the news of the
day colored my experience as a student. As I would place a story on
a page, I was able to vicariously experience a real event ““
whether it was impacting a fellow Bruin or someone unknown halfway
across the world. In determining where to place either a
four-column photo or a touch of spot color, these subtle decisions
would forever signify what was important for that day.

Looking back on my days here, I see what has been my A story and
dominant photo: the unforgettable moments with friends, the
spontaneity that results from trying to study and the daily
realization of something new. I am thankful for the people who are
on that front page with me and for the experiences that have taught
me to find humor in every circumstance. Mostly, I am thankful for
the extraordinary God who has placed every extraordinary element on
my blank layouts.

As I enter this next chapter in my life, I am excited to see
what will color my front-page news and to make a difference in the
world ““ even if it is one pica at a time.

Kim was a 2003-2004 designer. She is a communication studies
student and would like to encourage fellow soonjangs to “win
the campus today, win the world tomorrow!”