(Senior Margaret Lipman began working for Lasso Online in ninth grade and as a result of her phenomenal dedication and outstanding writing, quickly became an editor and then editor in chief. Her journalistic career is the longest of any newspaper writer and editor in Lasso’s and Lasso Online’s history. We asked Margaret to share her thoughts on her long career with her student newspaper. To get a sense of Margaret’s true contributions to this newspaper, go to our search engine on our front page.)

Recently, after being reminded in countless ways that I would soon be graduating and leaving Falls Church City behind, I began to look back at one of the most important activities of my high school career --working for Lasso Online.  Curious to see just what I had been doing during the last four years, I started going through the archives and immediately encountered a barrage of old articles I had written and photos I had taken.  Among them was an interview with Mr. Snee about GM becoming an 8-12 high school, front pages from each day of Spirit Week, a photo montage of the Tsunami Relief Project, a special edition about getting into college and a poll about the 2004 presidential election.  Many of the articles and photos featured events I had not thought of in months and people I had not talked to in weeks. 

Looking through stories from each of my years of high school, I immediately remembered other things from those years – how I broke my foot in ninth grade, the excitement of going to prom my junior year, the thrill and disappointment of my team coming in second in the tennis state finals last June, and, of course, the annual tradition of late-night cramming for semester exams.  Each story made me think of all the classmates I had met along the way, through classes, sports, activities, or just by being at school together.  I thought of the former Masonites I had looked up to as an underclassman, those who would be graduating alongside me, and those who would take our places in the years to come. 

Suddenly, all the work that I had put into this newspaper made a lot more sense.  It became important that I had done something to connect myself with the school where I had spent the last four years of my life and the people who had been there with me.  I realized how much I had needed Lasso Online to give me a purpose. I had truly enjoyed trying to get people interested in each other’s accomplishments, working alongside my classmates to accomplish something, being creative, and learning about responsibility and leadership --besides the fundamentals of journalism. 

Lasso Online has come so far during my time at George Mason -- we have become firmly established as an online paper, added several new sections and an interactive poll, uploaded video, translated articles into Spanish, and even published news of local events before the News-Press!  We have run over a hundred front pages this year alone, totaled over 300,000 visitors, and added a new article or photo nearly every day.    

But beyond those individual accomplishments, I am proud to have been a part of Lasso Online because it has given me a stronger sense of belonging to the George Mason community than I could have ever imagined.  Yes, I have had to work on many articles

late at night and obnoxiously take photos at rather mundane events.  But, believe it or not, I have actually enjoyed a lot of that.  It feels great to let the world know what we’re doing at GM and to see photos I’ve taken and articles I’ve written published online. 

I know that I have personally benefited from my experience on the newspaper staff; it has made me infinitely more dedicated, outgoing, and creative.  I feel confident that future students will enjoy working on Lasso Online as much I have and I can only hope that they will realize how fantastic writing for our little newspaper can be.