As a young toddler, Laura Finmand used to get caught by her parents reading the newspaper and now more than 20 years later, not much has changed. As the editor-in-chief of the Sonoma State Star, Finmand can now be found with her team of section editors every Sunday night reading and editing the school newspaper before it goes to print the following day.
Finmand grew up in northern California in the town of Folsom near Sacramento. As a communications major here at Sonoma State, she began working for the Star as a sophomore being a reporter for the A&E team. Since then, she has moved on up as the Arts and Entertainment editor and now this year, as editor-in-chief.
As graduation day approaches for this senior, she plans on moving to the East Bay and pursue a career in the writing field in San Francisco and finally be able to live with her high school sweetheart of over four years.
Since becoming editor-in-chief for the Sonoma State Star, Finmand’s love for writing has only grown.
“I was trained really well,” said Finmand. “I came into this position with a lot of knowledge. The previous editor, Erin, was like a mentor for me for a while.”
Since her start on the paper in 2009, Finmand has been able to see the paper from several different angles.
“As a section editor, you do more database, work directly with writers, and pitch stories,” said Finmand. “As editor-in-chief, you do more umbrella work and you’re responsible for not only the overall content and design but the consequences as well.”
As far as accomplishments go, this editor-in-chief was excited to have participated in the Associated Collegiate Press National College Journalism Convention that took place in Seattle in earlier this month.
Finmand entered some articles from The Star into several award categories and is hoping to come out on top.
“We’ve won something every year,” said Finmand. “I [previously] won an award for a column I wrote about Twilight.”
“I’m really proud of the work we’ve done,” said Finmand. This editor-in-chief has had a rewarding experience while working on the school newspaper and she knows that experience will help her in the next phase of her life.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Sonoma chapter.