Talha Siddiqui / The Hofstra Chronicle

A lot has changed in my life throughout my time at Hofstra. The one constant, though, has been The Hofstra Chronicle. The Chronicle was the first thing I joined my freshman year. I walked into the interest meeting in early September wide-eyed, overeager and terrified to interview anyone or talk to people in general. As a result, I joined the copy team just to get a foot in the door at the paper and, to my surprise, it stuck.

A friend of mine at the radio station once referred to engineering as being the best seat in the house, because it’s where you have the best vantage point to see your peers grow and succeed. I think the same is true for the copy board at The Chronicle. During my time with the section, I’ve gotten to watch staff writers become assistant editors, section editors and even editor-in-chief and managing editor. It has been so exciting to see the next generation of editors grow and join the editorial board, and I can’t wait to see where they take the paper in the future. I have so much confidence in this paper and the people who run it, and I know that however bright things are right now for The Chronicle, the future is even brighter.

Working behind the scenes has also taught me so much about journalism and the tireless, dedicated journalists that walk through our office doors once a week. I’ve never taken a single journalism class in my life, but because of The Chronicle, I learned how to spot a good lede, tell if an article was good enough to go to print and write a news piece by myself.

And that’s because of how special this paper and its staff is – a group of more than 20 people who want the paper to be its absolute best and are willing to put in endless hours to achieve that goal and help everyone involved learn. It’s one of the best environments on campus, and I’m so lucky to have found a home here.

As a copy chief, reading and editing the entire paper two or three times each week can be grueling, overwhelming and tiring. We don’t leave our office until 3:15 a.m. at the end of a layout night, if we’re lucky. 

Despite this, I wouldn’t trade any of the late nights, pieces that came in way past deadline, articles filled with so many track changes that they crashed my computer or getting told that our editing process sucks, because all those things just meant that I got to be a part of this paper coming together 10 times each semester. 

Every part of this experience – from the editors to the funniest overheards to InDesign crashes to our office somehow accumulating every broken chair on this campus and everything in between – shaped my experience at the paper. 

So here I am now, procrastinating one final Chronicle article. I wish it wasn’t so tough to write, but the fact that it is only means that this paper had an impact on me that’s hard to sum up in 500-700 words. The really special thing about this paper is how it draws you in and focuses you; suddenly it goes from just being the paper you see on stands around campus to something you’ll invest hours and hours of time into without question.

As a freshman, I never thought of The Chronicle as a mechanism for bringing actual change, but since then, I’ve been proven wrong again and again. The Chronicle has ignited national and international debate, caused Hofstra to change food providers and brought awareness to some of the things going on behind the scenes that would otherwise have been swept under the rug. Like anything else, this paper will give back to you what you put into it. I’m so thankful to have spent my time with people who have made this experience and paper so great.