The story of how I joined The Miami Student (TMS) feels like one I’ve told a million times in my four years. It’s a perfect example of how important it is to adopt what I call the “Yes Mindset.”
My first-year roommate, Ava Hunt, was interested in joining TMS because she wrote for her high school’s newspaper. I did not have any experience in journalism beyond the JRN 101 class I was enrolled in merely for honors credit.
In a move that was completely unlike me, I agreed to go with her to the informational meeting.
TMS boasts several sections that all sounded appealing to me as a first-year student who had yet to find her voice in writing. I decided to split off into the Campus and Community (C&C) meeting. As a political science major, this decision made sense to me.
There was a sense of community immediately upon entering the neon-green newsroom, surrounded by stacks of newspapers, Lego creations, pride flags and sticky notes of inside jokes among the staff.
This community opened up to me immediately.
The staff running C&C at the time — Lexi Whitehead, Sean Scott, Reagan Rude and Alice Momany — were some of the first people I ever met at The Student. All of them made me feel like I belonged there and were quick to allow me to start writing.
My first story with The Student was co-authored with Rude, and we reported on therapy dog sessions available to students. The story ran on the front page.
Seeing my name in print for the first time filled me with a sense of confidence I had been missing. I felt like this was something I could be good at, surrounded by people who shared the same values that I had.
From then on, my work with TMS accelerated.
During my sophomore year, then-Editor-in-Chief Sean Scott asked me to work on a new multimedia project: a podcast highlighting local election candidates for the Talawanda School Board and Oxford City Council.
I remember feeling intimidated, but I said “yes,” alongside current Editor-in-Chief Olivia Patel, and I am so grateful that I did. “People and Policies” became one of the most unique experiences I’ve ever had — and it won a few awards too.
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More than that, it led me to covering the Talawanda School District Board of Education meetings diligently for a year, and allowed me to work as editor of the Oxford section (R.I.P) alongside current Managing Editor Anna Reier. This filled an important gap in local journalism before the Oxford Free Press was established.
During my time as editor, there were many cherished late nights in the newsroom. Working alongside Livi, Anna, current C&C Editor Taylor Stumbaugh and many others added so much value to my time at Miami University and made me feel like I had found a home on campus.
It was hard to leave this home during my junior year, when I studied abroad in Luxembourg.
However, I found a new opportunity in writing a travel column called “Living in Luxembourg.” This style of writing was unlike anything I had written before, but I took it as an opportunity to extend my portfolio and develop my voice.
TMS is the place that allows students to grow with patience and support, no matter how much writing experience you have or where you are in the world.
I especially thank then-Opinion Editor Sam Norton and our current Opinion Editor Taylor Powers for helping me with those columns, even from thousands of miles away.
When I returned to campus, I found myself blooming in other places. I became more involved with undergraduate research, my on-campus job and an internship in public relations — which I could not have gotten without the skills I developed in the newsroom.
All of this to say, TMS is the foundation of who I am today. Though my upperclassmen schedule became filled with many other commitments, the newsroom and the connections I’ve formed within it have and always will be a home to me.
I am endlessly grateful to every single person I have met through TMS, and I am excited to see where the publication goes. I know the staff will continue to do great things, and I am already proud of what will be.
Thank you to all of my editors, especially Momany and Stumbaugh, who helped me improve my writing skills. Thank you to the journalism department faculty who taught me lessons in both writing and life that I use every day. Thank you to the newsroom for being a safe space and fostering lifelong memories to be made within it.
Saying yes to attending a meeting on a whim was one of the best decisions I have ever made.
Raquel Hirsch is a senior journalism and political science double major with a Fostering Just Communities certificate, graduating in May. After graduation, she will be working in public relations back in her hometown of Chicago.
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