236 bylines and counting

I don’t cry often, and certainly not in front of other people.

Okay, I definitely cried in middle school; if we’re being honest, I probably cried more than I should have, even when I was in high school. I was told growing up that I was a sensitive guy, and I can live with that.

But when I got to Miami University, I told myself that crying wasn’t a productive use of time. It might calm me down or let me unload some weight, but it wouldn’t solve the problems I had at the time.

When I did cry — usually during the moments I lovingly call my “tweak outs” or mental spirals — I limited myself to either a bathroom or the confines of my apartment. I refused to shed a tear in front of an audience. I didn’t want to draw attention to myself.

I broke those rules when Photo Editor Elisa Rosenthal stood up on the desk during The Miami Student’s 200th Anniversary Celebration to surprise me with a jersey for my record-high byline count.

I’ve told this story before, but my choice to come to Miami was completely random. My decision to stay at Miami was also out of my control — if I had turned in my paperwork one week ahead of time, I would have transferred to the University of Michigan.

I wrote six stories total for The Student in my first year, and honestly considered it more of an extracurricular. However, I hadn’t quite found my “home” yet on campus. I didn’t love my finance major and felt ostracized in my dorm hall, giving me more alone time than I would have preferred.

I picked up a journalism major going into my sophomore year and started writing more. A lot more. I had 128 bylines in my junior year alone, and that’s when I realized I wanted to be a professional journalist more than anything.

Despite the admittedly excessive amount of writing I did, there remained a voice in the back of my head telling me that I’m making a mistake. No matter how many games I covered, interviews I conducted or road trips I went on, I was never doing the best I could.

That voice led to some dark times for me. I won awards and received constant validation from people around me, but it didn’t matter. I was never satisfied with myself, and eventually, I told myself there was no point in pursuing this dream anymore.

So, when Elisa stood up on that table, tears in her eyes, and told me how proud she was of me, of course my eyes welled up.

It became clear to me that even when I can’t give myself grace or have faith in myself, I have a whole team of people in my corner. People that I consider family and who will shower me with support and love.

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My career and life trajectory have been entirely altered because people chose to take a chance on me. Former Sports Editor Jack Schmelzinger took a chance on me when he promoted me to sports editor despite my limited experience and lack of confidence.

Former Editor-in-Chief Kasey Turman and, later, now Editor-in-Chief Olivia Patel and Managing Editor Anna Reier continued to take chances on me when I was scrambling to fill space every print, but they always told me they trusted me enough to get the job done.

Digital Media Editor Sarah Frosch took a chance on me when they taught me all about photography and let me do multimedia work for football and basketball.

Campus & Community Editor Taylor Stumbaugh, Opinion Editor Taylor Powers, Culture Editor Stella Powers, GreenHawks Editor Sarah Kennel and Sam Norton all took chances on me when they allowed a sports journalist to cover Senate Bill 1, warbling birds and the stand-up comedy club.

The people on staff have become my closest friends, people I know I can count on and, I hope, people who know that they can count on me for anything at any time.

It’s a bittersweet feeling knowing that the group I’ve seen as a family will be going their own ways pretty soon. At the same time, I’m eternally grateful to have people I’m close enough with to feel incredibly sad about leaving. I can’t say enough about the impact The Miami Student has had on my college experience, career and personal life.

@kethanbabu_04

babukc2@miamioh.edu

Kethan Babu is a senior journalism major with a minor in finance. He is the sports editor of The Student.