It’s really easy to feel like you haven’t done enough. Four years isn’t a lot of time, even if it can feel like it stretches on forever. Saying goodbye to college is hard, and as cheesy as it sounds, saying goodbye to The Chronicle is harder. I’ve been part of The Chronicle’s editorial board since September of freshman year, for me there is no Hofstra without The Chronicle.
I came into Hofstra as a journalism and fine arts major … That didn’t last. I jumped through majors, lived in very different locations, and tried almost every club this university had to offer. The one constant in my life was The Chronicle. Stumbling into the very first layout night, I didn’t expect anything amazing, at best I saw it as a club I had to join as a journalism major, and photography just seemed like the right place to be.
The first night I spent with Che, the first photo editor I worked with, wasn’t an amazing revelation about how much I loved photojournalism, but it was an amazing time. I sat slightly behind a computer, desperately trying to remember anything I recalled about InDesign from my one class in high school, just soaking up the atmosphere of a Chronicle layout night.
The Chronicle is not the same publication it was when I first joined; it’s grown and transformed and become something I’m glad to have my name in every week. There are so many people I have to thank for getting me here. Che for giving me a chance to be on the editorial board, Peter for being my helpful assistant and now my co-editor, Rob, for being the newest addition to the team and of course the entire editorial board.
I’ve seen controversies, breaking stories, a debate that became my best day at Hofstra and also the longest 36 hours of my life. As amazing as the crazy stories were, what I’ll miss the most are the Hot Take Mondays with Editorial Editor Gisela Factora, joking with the editors from every department, screaming about politics with our Editor-in-Chief Joe Fay and just being able to watch some of the most powerful, hardworking young journalists I’ve ever met.
And of course it would be hard to go without thanking everyone outside The Chronicle who dealt with me shoving the paper in their face. Shout-out to my lovely roommates Sarah, Joseph and Courtney for dealing with me coming into the house at 3 a.m. after a layout night. Thank you to everyone in Nonsense Humor, who jokingly referred to me as the ambassador to The Chronicle, which is at best a joke now considering a good chunk of The Chronicle e-board is also part of Nonsense. To Ashley Vernola, my best friend, who knows exactly what it means to break your back for a publication, and how great the 2000’s “Van Helsing” movie is. And last but not least, to Jordan, my boyfriend and the person whose been keeping me sane every day for the past year. Every one of you has saved my life and has inspired me to keep with this crazy publication, and it means everything to me.
It hurts knowing I won’t be there for the future stories, the late night final checks and the last minute stories we have to cover, but it warms my heart knowing that they will continue to stress out the administration and reveal the problems hidden behind the walls of Hofstra.
The first paper where my name appeared as assistant photo editor is still hanging in my mom’s office; my first layout is still pinned in a scrapbook. The Chronicle will be with me long after I walk across the stage at graduation. I know this paper is going to do amazing, and I can’t wait to see how it gets there.