From the moment I first set foot on Miami University’s campus, I knew I wanted to join The Miami Student. The big, bold banner hanging in Armstrong Student Center immediately caught my attention.
My first year journalism professor, James Tobin, took our class to the newsroom for a visit, and I fell in love with the space and the atmosphere of the room. He was attempting to get us to join The Student, and in my case, it worked. I started writing for Culture (Entertainment at the time) and Campus and Community, and haven’t looked back since.
The Student has taught me so much about journalism and teamwork as a whole. Since I started writing, I have grown significantly and developed so many skills I wouldn’t have without this organization.
Different deadlines and assignments have challenged me in ways I had never been challenged before, but I can’t recall a single time when the outcome wasn’t more than worth the work.
However, The Student means much more to me than just the skills I’ve learned. Most importantly, it’s how I met my best friends. The Student has single-handedly shaped my college experience, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Every semester, something I always look forward to is the social gatherings. Getting together with friends, playing games, chatting and laughing is always a highlight for me. I also love meeting new staff members at these events.
I remember my first gathering: I was terrified. I met up with a few fellow first years beforehand so we could go in together. However, despite my fears, I was immediately made to feel welcome. As soon as I walked inside, I was greeted by Reagan Rude, who treated me as though I had always been a part of The Student. From that moment, I didn’t feel like an outsider.
That’s when I first started to realize that The Student was my home.
Now, as an upperclassman, my goal is to give the new staffers the same experience I had. The Student means the world to me, and I genuinely believe joining is the best thing I have ever done.
In the spring semester of my first year, I got extremely homesick and depressed. I didn’t feel like Miami was the right fit for me, and I really wanted to be home, closer to my family. It got bad enough that I started going home every weekend I possibly could, spending as little time at Miami as possible while still making it to my classes.
Instead of letting myself have free time to think about how unhappy I was, I threw myself into The Student even more, taking on a position as an assistant editor for Campus and Community and writing as many stories as I possibly could.
About halfway through the semester, I told myself I wasn’t coming back. I even filled out a transfer application for a school less than an hour from my hometown because I thought that was what was best for me. As the semester came to an end, something didn’t feel right.
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I knew I couldn’t leave The Student behind, so I decided to stay.
I told myself that I would come back for the fall semester of my sophomore year, and if things didn’t get better, I would transfer.
When I came back to campus, I fell more and more in love with The Student. I started assistant editing for the Culture section, and I also became a managing editor of our magazine. It did get better, and I owe that all to The Student.
If it weren’t for the relationships I’ve built through this newspaper, I don’t think I would still be at Miami today. When I say joining The Student is the best thing I’ve ever done, I mean it.
It has become my home away from home, and the people involved are now my family. I wouldn’t be who I am or where I am today without them and without this newspaper. I owe everything to The Student, and I hope that everyone can have something in their lives that means as much to them as The Student means to me.
Stella Powers is a junior journalism and media and communication major from Wooster, Ohio. She is the culture editor of The Miami Student, as well as one of the co-editors of The Miami Student Magazine.
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