I wasn't quite sure what to write for my last column. I knew what I didn't want to write about - graduation, how Miami University has changed me or my future's uncertainty. Because let's face it - most seniors are sad about graduating, college is going to change you in one way or another and in this recession, the job market is looking bleak. So, I tried to think of what I'll remember most from these last four years.
I fell in love in college. No, not with anyone I dated. I fell in love with The Miami Student. My co-editor Jon Gair and I met in Karen Dawisha's Russian politics class. Two semesters later he recruited me to be the next editorial editor with him. It looked like a great resume builder. I'm not a journalism major. I am, however, a political junkie that's opinionated. Sounded like a great fit.
It was intimidating walking into the first editorial board with both new and old staff. Everyone else had worked together before. I knew one person. It took several editorial board meetings for me to actually talk. For those who know me personally, that's probably shocking since I'm usually never at loss for words.
Very few outside The Miami Student staff bubble know how time-consuming it is to work for the newspaper. There were weeks when I saw the staff more than I saw my housemates. There were days I wanted to quit. There were multiple heated editorial boards which usually left someone feeling ostracized. Some of my columnists, (cough) Mike and Will, would wait till 8 p.m. on a production night to submit their columns. Sometimes I'd be done at 8 p.m. Monday, other times I wouldn't be out until midnight. Beyond the deadlines, arguments and ranting letters to the editor, I loved walking in Sunday and Wednesday edi board nights. Sundays always involved everyone recapping their weekend debaucheries. Where did Ann go? Did Dave make it home? What staff members made the list of Student flings? Production nights consisted of Chris replaying Britney Spears' "Womanizer" or Beyonce's "Single Ladies" multiple times. Jeopardy was our TV show of choice, and dinner runs to Shriver sometimes happened twice in one night.
We were not only colleagues, we were friends. When I was diagnosed with a rare brain disease in September 2008, the staff became one of my greatest support systems. They were constantly e-mailing, calling or texting me when I went out to Stanford. I often got weekend updates of what happened during their Friday or Saturday nights.
For the year that I worked for the Student, those 15 editorial board members probably knew more about my life than some of my best friends. They knew everything from who I dated, what bar I went to Tuesday night or what big test I had coming up next. Working for the paper became more than just a resume builder - it became a part of my life that I came to love and miss today.
I'll never forget the late nights in MacMillan Hall or the stress relieving dance parties to Chris' music selection. I'll always appreciate Gair scheduling columnists around my love life (thank you). And, of course, the bulletin board filled with pieces of paper of inappropriate Freudian slips or comments made by staff members.
So, cheers to my college love: The Miami Student.
