Most people are selfish.
I won’t pretend, I like to put myself first. Despite being introverted and enjoying alone time, I love being the loudest, the funniest and the most inspiring person in the room. I like it when people notice the milestones in my life and comment on them — even the negative ones give me a dopamine rush.
When people used to ask why I joined The Daily Campus, I said it was because I loved writing. But now I realize that, deep down, selfishness was a big part of what drove me.
During my sophomore year, I attended my first Opinion section meeting. I still remember the excitement — the idea of writing whatever I wanted and seeing the tangible results of my hard work printed the next day. I’ll never forget how it felt to see my first article in the paper. That moment became my motivation and defined a huge part of my life at the University of Connecticut.
As I got more comfortable with writing articles and receiving feedback, I eventually became a staff writer. Up until last semester, I wrote 25 articles — most of which I’m proud of, and a few I still believe I could’ve done better on. I used to tell people I stepped down from the writing position because of academic pressure, health issues from COVID, repeated fevers and pneumonia (literally living the sick Victorian child life) and the anxiety of a bleak future.
But if I’m being honest, the real reason was that I had started using my selfishness to pollute the waters of what used to be a pure passion for writing. I was disappointed in myself for barely reading other writers’ work — blaming my short attention span — even though The Daily Campus is full of amazing voices. That realization pushed me toward a new role: copy editor. A chance to really listen to what others had to say.
I haven’t met most of the writers personally, but I’ve come to know them through their words.
Here are some of my favorite articles I’ve edited. I do have a lot more, I just don’t have the time and I’m running out of my limited word count: (I just noticed all of them are from the Life section, probably because I do have regrets about not writing a Life article… and that will haunt me for the rest of my life.)
Oliver Power’s “I Made it So You Don’t Have To: Making Tini’s famous mac and cheese”
One of my favorite columns to edit last semester, as I always get hungry during my editing shift. The little story at the beginning and the joy of cooking as a college student really stuck with me.
Justine Pearlman’s “Hearing Double: Dreaming away”
I’m sad that this is the last article of Hearing Double from Justine. I always looked forward to reading and editing each one. It opened me to so many amazing songs and artists.
Isaac Grad’s “Your Movie Mage: ‘Dinner in America’”
I ended up watching “Dinner in America” because the summary and review were so entertaining. I do want to watch “Boy” as well because of the heartbreaking, coming-of-age story.
This is my last article — my last chance to “shine” and feel fulfilled and truly heard. I guess this is another selfish act, but after three years at The Daily Campus, I think I deserve it. In fact, all the seniors here deserve it.
My four years at UConn gave me a lot of ups and downs — more than any other period in my short life as a graduating senior. I’ve met the most amazing people and the most malicious villains. I’ve felt ecstasy and misery, even both at the same time.
It’s getting toward the end of the roller coaster ride and I’m currently having migraines. Now is the time to step out and get ready for a break before my next ride. I would like to thank everyone for letting me be selfish, selfless and a little bit more myself.