Interview with 2003-04 Editor-in-Chief Heather Day
In celebration of the Conglomerate’s 100th anniversary, I had the pleasure of interviewing Heather Day, the Conglomerate’s editor-in-chief, from 2003 to 2004. When she attended Centenary, Heather was a biochemistry major with a minor in math. Now, she lives in North Carolina and works as a nurse practitioner with a focus in heart failure.
When Heather was editor-in-chief, her biggest struggle wasn’t the Conglomerate’s weekly printing schedule (that’s 16 issues per semester!); it was the integration of new software. At the time, the Conglomerate was transitioning to a new layout program for the paper. Besides Heather, only one other person knew how to use it. That person, the layout editor, ended up getting burned out. So, Heather was forced to take over the roles and responsibilities of that position. In totality, her largest struggle was staffing. In good news, though, she learned how to use Adobe InDesign!
In her time at Centenary, Heather Day did more than work for the Conglomerate. She also earned a minor in math, which she only pursued in order to get better at math. She also managed to be both editor-in-chief and take p-chem at the same time, which is its own impressive feat.
Additionally, working for the Conglomerate gave Heather skills that went beyond Adobe InDesign or newspaper layout. Writing is one of the biggest skills she learned that transferred to her real job. Writing is a part of almost every job, and nursing is no exception. Heather often uses her penmanship skills for her notes, and her colleagues have commented on her succinct and excellent notes. Also, she can type really fast!
One of the other things that Heather did to contribute to the Conglomerate was cleaning out the office. When she did, she removed the now unnecessary equipment necessary for physically printing and laying out the paper. She also began sending the paper to the printer electronically, as they had physically brought it to the printer prior. Alongside that, she also started the April Fools edition, which included jokes, stories, and a satire section full of real news.
While Heather accomplished a lot as the editor-in-chief, there are a few things she wishes she could have done. She wishes that she could have gotten the Conglomerate on the internet since it would have prevented a dead day caused by printing the paper physically. She had only just begun sending the paper electronically due to obstacles like Centenary limiting how much you could send in an email.
On a lighter note, Heather’s favorite kind of piece that the Conglomerate wrote was the person of interest articles. Specifically, the Conglomerate published a piece about an individual at Centenary who helped search for wreckage after the Columbia space shuttle explosion. When the shuttle exploded, many students, including Heather, saw the trails from the fragments in the sky. Learning about and writing about specific people was always one of her favorites.
Overall, I am very glad I had the chance to interview Heather. She was very kind and enthusiastic about all things Centenary. My last question for her was if there was anything that she wanted to say to the student body. Here is her message to Centenary students: “Centenary was one of the best times of my life. I still have friends I talk to. I hope everyone there enjoys their time there. In my very last editorial, I wrote to take advantage of college. Take fun classes, take jazz, and get out of your comfort zone. Take advantage of what college has to offer!”
