We don’t just slap some stories and pictures on a page just so you can have Thundercloud coupons.

We put together the newspaper every six weeks because we love what we do and we want you to enjoy reading about things going on on campus.

The student body underestimates the amount of work put into the newspaper.

When I tell my friends that I not only put in class time to work on the paper but also after school, during our off-periods, and even during other classes, they are shocked. Some of them even question why I’m still on the staff if I have to put in that much effort for one newspaper.

It’s cause we love it. Yeah we all stress out in the process, even shed some tears sometimes, but the reward that you feel when you look at your page or article after it’s been printed for the first time is the best feeling a staff member could have.

Hearing that people are grabbing six or seven copies of the newspaper just for the Thundercloud coupons is not a good feeling. It hurts.

Think of a football player who has put in hours and hours of practice every day to get ready for a game, but the people that come to watch only come to get the free shirts that the cheerleaders throw into the stands. That’s how it feels to us.

We put in at least eight to ten hours outside of school per page, which means that each of the section editors has to put in that much time for their page, maybe even more, of strictly working on the computer. No texting, tweeting, or instagramming. Strictly working.

So no, we don’t just slap some stuff on a page and call it a paper. There’s a process to get the paper done in the time we have.

We have to come up with ideas, decide what page they will go on, take pictures, layout the pages, edit every single thing on each page, and finally, publish the paper. This is what we do in those eight to ten hours of working.

Next time you pick up a newspaper, read it. Yes, you can use the Thundercloud coupon; that’s why we put it in there. But don’t just pick it up for that.

It might surprise you, but you may end up finding yourself actually enjoying what you are reading in the paper.