Elise Madden: Keeping laughter and lightheartedness in your work environment improves overall experience

Every morning I wake up and think, ‘How can I make The Harbinger staff laugh today?’ 

Tears shed at my humor. It can be really hard sometimes knowing that I am the funniest person in the room. I feel bad leaving a deadline, knowing the staffers won’t crack a smile until I’m back. When my desktop seat is empty, consider their hearts empty too. 

While that’s quite dramatic, and not completely true, I believe that humor is the backbone of this staff and what’s kept me going the past three years. If there’s one thing Harbinger has taught me, it’s that some of the most stressful moments bring out the funniest parts in people. Whether it’s Celia crying at late night PDFing because no one else wants to watch “Harry Potter” for the eighth week in a row, or hearing a thud in the back room and seeing that another person has taken a spill off the J-skateboard, you can always count on the people in Harbinger to make your stomach ache from laughter.

Hadley stares at me in shock as I continually repeat that she forgot my birthday. Convincing her that it was yesterday,  she began to slowly freak out thinking that she remembered my sister’s birthday but forgot mine. This lasted for about five minutes before I admitted it was not my birthday and my birthday was not until September (it was March). 

Sitting at the first late-night after deadline in Celia’s basement, Sydney stands up and states, “I have to go to the bathroom.” I look around the room. Who’s going to say it? I make eye contact with Celia. I hear the words “Go piss girl” fall from her mouth. The beginning of yet another Harbinger inside joke that has us rolling with laughter every time. 

I’m preparing to go to the airport for our NSPA trip to Philadelphia with my school backpack on my back and camera bag in the front. Someone snaps a photo. Probably Peyton. The photo was captioned “Madden Moment” — but little did I know that this would be the beginning of a never-ending joke.

“Poot Lovato sits here,” reads above my desk. Written by Ben, this repetitive joke, and although I hate to admit it, makes me laugh every time I sit down. The thing about this is that there is no context to this joke, it’s just another thing that appeared in the J-room. 

I could list hundreds of more jokes that you would find incredibly un-funny, but what’s stuck with me through each one is that I always had people around me to laugh and bounce ideas off of. Not only have the relationships I’ve formed kept me laughing, but more importantly, they’ve kept me motivated. Being surrounded by creative people who are always pushing the limits on what a high school newspaper can do leaves me beyond inspired, changing my perspective on life. 

Aside from sarcastically responding to every question asked in the back room I can always

count on the insight from my peers for photo ideas, headline brainstorming, story ideas, as well as life advice. 

The Harbinger environment is where I can productively be creative while also blasting “My Humps” by the Black Eyed Peas or “Lily’s Theme” from “Harry Potter.” I leave my swivel chair to the left of the library door empty, in hopes that whoever sits there next will live up to my expectations. 

And to The Harbinger: I hope that when I’m gone you guys will still manage to laugh every once in a while… I know it will be hard.