As my time at The Daily Campus comes to an end, I feel compelled to reflect on the fact that I joined this organization as an 18-year-old from the confines of my childhood bedroom. I happened to see an ad for the Opinion section in The Daily Digest and the rest is history. I’ve held a lot of roles here, most recently this year as editor-in-chief, but at a certain point, the titles lose their meaning anyway. It’s the memories the DC has created for me and the feelings I’ve felt that I’ll remember beyond my time at the University of Connecticut.
I’d be lying if I said all of my time at the DC was fun. A light fell from the ceiling, quite literally nearly killing me and my co-editor at the time. (For the record, all I did in this instance was take a picture of Nell with the dangling light and send it in the #general Slack channel with the message “lil problem in the basement right now” and waited for someone to come get us. I like to think I’m more self-sufficient nowadays.)
I once almost-single-handedly copy-edited an entire graduation issue over two nights during finals — editing many senior columns just like this one. People threatened to sue us, making me the main recipient of relentless emails and meetings, merely because we did our jobs as journalists. I’ve stayed up late making a paper only to wake up and deliver it the next day, even cracking my phone in the process on one occasion. I’ve hidden in the basement and sprinted down the street away from my coworkers because fight-or-flight kicked in and Maddie always runs.
Luckily, everything gets funny as time passes, and I really do look back on all of my time at the DC with fondness, even the situations described above. It’s not just the good and the bad that I’ll hold near and dear to my heart — I’ll treasure each insignificant moment at 1266 Storrs Road for as long as I can remember them. Everything is beautiful when you look at it with love, and that’s how I view the DC.
So now, the thank you’s: Thank you Nell, for being a beautiful human being and my true partner in crime, united front, us against the world for real — I wouldn’t have wanted to share an email address or nearly die with anyone else. Thank you to Maggie and Grace for showing me how to be DC Mom — a title I initially protested, though now I suppose I understand the love meant from it. Thank you to Harrison, for teaching me how to write and also how to engage critically with the world around me. You’ve shown me kindness and grace as a boss for two years that I’ve attempted to emulate, and I’m extremely proud to have been able to follow your path. Thank you to Emily, my (second) twin in so many ways, good and bad — Hot Off the Press recording session soon? Thank you to my roommates (and employees, for ⅔ of you) Renee, Delaney and Sophia, for listening to my many DC gripes via couch-kicking sessions; I wouldn’t have been able to do it without your support. Thank you to Naiiya, Charlotte and Raquel — I’m not sure anyone will ever really know what we did over this year but I’m glad we got to go through it together. Thank you to Zach, for caring about me with purpose; I hope I know you forever. And to Sara, Connor, Ky’Lynn and Naiiya — you’ve got it, I believe in you and I know you can do it.
People can be really critical of student journalists — and public trust in journalism in general isn’t very high nowadays. But I see The Daily Campus and other organizations like it as a place to learn and grow as journalists, professionals and individuals. It’s not about beating yourself up over hard times or mistakes made, but about learning from the experiences you’ve had, making connections with others and becoming better people through collective effort.
I’m not sure what the future holds but I do know worrying about it is pointless; we must learn to proceed without certainty. The Daily Campus is and will always be home for me, so thank you to everyone for being a part of that.
As I’ve signed off all my weekly announcements for the past year: That’s all for now folks! Peace and love! Reach out with any questions! Be good!