Sara-Beth Badalamente always knew that she was going to be involved with journalism. “As soon as I started writing for the newspaper, I wanted to be a journalist,” Badalamente said. She took over for former MIPA director Chad Sanders and became the director of MIPA this year.
“I wish I could clone myself so that I could be in three places at once. Everything that kids are doing here is so cool and I don’t want to miss any of it,” she said.
Although the job can be stressful, Badalamente said she loves every minute of it. Every day is a new experience for her, complete with many different highs and lows. But she said she has found her passion and is going to stick with it until she feels like she is no longer needed.
“I feel like I can actually impact things,” she said.
“I clearly love what I do. When you find your passion, follow it.”
Sara-Beth Badalamente, MIPA director
From schedule changes to conference meetings, Badalamente does it all.
“I try to get to classrooms every single day, I go to all the sessions. I run the press conference, the issue panel. If there is someone that might be homesick, sometimes I get to talk to them. There is always something to do,” she said
According to Sanders, who served as the director of MIPA for seven years, Badalamente is a good fit for MIPA.
“She[s] got the enthusiasm, the passion and the drive that is takes to make this week hum,” he said.
While the director position brings many struggles, both Sanders and Badalamente said they love the role.
Badalamente said, “There is a lot of control that I have in my classroom, but there are a lot of things that are out of my control…[But here] I feel like I can directly impact [MIPA].”
Sanders said his favorite part of the director position was “meeting with individual staffs, helping them brainstorm ideas to make their publications great. The enthusiasm of MIPA campers is unmatched.”
Badalamente said she is still getting used to the position.
“I don’t think I ever thought this would be my role because I really loved being an instructor,” she said. “It was really fun to meet so many kids and teach InDesign. But I feel like this is a good fit. [MIPA] is a really well oiled machine. The people in the office know what they are doing, so, I’m one piece of a big operating machine.”
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