This story was originally published in the fourth edition of The Lion’s Tale (February 6th, 2018).

Most students see the yearbook as a large, colorful memory book. For the students who create the book, the yearbook is much more.

Senior Aleena Voorhees said she has learned work ethic and communication.

“You learn a lot of real-world skills that would help you in a job setting, like how to interact with people and not just get a job done,” Voorhees said. “But you also learn how to deal with the curveballs it throws, along with the important and urgent deadlines and you learn how to use Adobe CS6.”

Senior Danny Sanchez said that yearbook has helped him in a multitude of ways–not only as a student, but as a person, as well.

“Yearbook has taught me a lot of how to be a better person in general, learning how to deal with people that normally you wouldn’t have to deal with and coming out with a positive relationship in the end,” Sanchez said.

Senior Brittany Watley said yearbook builds a sense of family.

“Yearbook provides a group of people who are willing to help, or just be a friendly face when you need it most,” Watley said. “And with this family, it has its bumps in the road; having them not only helps you get through it, but teaches you how to better interact with those people to truly function and work as a whole.”

According to senior Megan Handler, yearbook has helped her get into the business mindset.

“It’s one of the best courses to prepare you for a career down the road,” Handler said.  “You acquire a lot of different traits of a job, such as having to work under people, having to lead, having to correct and revise along with a business persona.”

Voorhees says that yearbook demanded her to be a leader.

“Being in yearbook had taught me about how to be assertive when talking to your staff, or getting your voice heard within the community,” Voorhees said.

Sanchez said it taught him how to keep track of his work.

“Yearbook is a good course to take, because not only do you get to create this book that not only documents the history of the school, but of that year in general,” Sanchez said.

The Oviedian staff has been around for 81 years, according to Voorhees, and the creation process of the book hasn’t changed much.

“We start figuring out what the theme will be in early July, when we go to a camp specifically for that,” Voorhees said.

Handler stated that the editors go to multiple camps and workshops to determine what the theme will be, and complete overall brainstorming for the book.

“We start looking at magazines and other photo-type books to see what we think looks good, and what direction we want to take, whether it be a lighthearted theme or a more controversial theme,” Handler said.

The stress of being on the yearbook staff varies from person to person, according to Sanchez.

“If it where based in a 1-10 level it would be a 11, and it is that due to the high responsibility level: it may be rewarding in the end, but it still is very stressful if you do not take constructive criticism well or  figuring out how to do things by yourself,” Sanchez said. “There is also a high-stress demand due to deadlines.”

Voorhees stated that she rates the stress at a seven.

“For some people, it’s probably a lot higher, and for some, it’s probably a lot lower, but for me it depends on how organized it is, and the willfulness of the work that one wants to put in,” Voorhees said. “For the head editors, there is a lot of pressure of the leadership role and the responsibility for all of those below you.”

With the hustle and bustle of getting the book done, sometimes mistakes are made.

“This goes back and forth between all three editors over the course of time,” Watley said. “It gets spell- and grammatically-checked. Then designs of pages can come in, where they will be put to the style sheet, with fonts, colors and placement.”