Ondrej Pazdirek is passionate about the English language.

Pazdirek, the 2010-2011 editor of The Campus Ledger, JCCC’s student newspaper, had studied English for eight years at a prep school in the Czech Republic, his home country. He knew grammar rules and how to spell, but he couldn’t speak the language. “When I came here two years ago I could barely put a sentence together,” he said. “Now I think in this language, I dream in this language, I talk to myself in English.”

Pazdirek came to the United States from the Czech Republic as an exchange student attending Gardner-Edgerton High School. His intention was to pursue English, taking creative writing, theater and forensics courses and the yearbook class, where his passion for journalism began. “That’s how I discovered journalism,” he said. “Telling people’s stories is a service to the community. That’s what I see journalism as, and that’s what the Ledger is doing this year.”

He was supposed to be in the States for only one year, but he loved it so much he had to stay longer. He received a soccer scholarship, which allowed him to come to JCCC. During the spring semester, he became a staff reporter for the Ledger and the paper’s circulation manager. Matt Galloway, the 2009-2010 editor, encouraged him to try for the editor’s position, and he was selected.

Pazdirek says he has a two-page list of ideas for the Ledger this year. “We’re facing the whole notion of print media dying,” he said. “I would have loved to live 100 years ago when newspapers were the major media, but we have to face what’s going on now.” To increase readership, this year’s Ledger has the look of a news magazine, with lots of visual appeal. Four illustrators and seven photographers provide images to support the printed stories, while the online version of the Ledger is enhanced with video.

“We really want feedback from readers this year,” Pazdirek says. New elements include student opinions in breakout boxes and more polls and infographics. “I want everyone to know the paper is here for students, faculty and the community,” Pazdirek said. “If not, who are we writing for?”

Pazdirek is not yet sure what he’ll do when his year as editor ends next May. He knows he wants to do something creative, using the English language. He’s tried his hand at directing theater productions and spent last summer as a video production intern at PlattForm Advertising. Continuing in journalism is another possibility. “I love what I’m doing right now,” he said. “The thrill of deadlines, the issues I have to deal with – it’s exhausting, but rewarding.”

Pazdirek knows he wants to transfer to a four-year school to earn a master’s degree. “I love learning,” he said. “I want to be in school as long as I can.”