I’d only been on Hofstra’s campus for about 48 hours when I joined the Chronicle. Freshly transferred and stuck among hundreds of freshmen during Welcome Week, I was eager to immerse myself in The College Experience (all capitals). I knew I had a knack for grammar rules, spurred by a childhood of voracious reading and editing my more mathematically-minded little sister’s high school essays. Copy was, genuinely, the only section I wanted to sign up for. Before I’d even attended a day of classes, I was on the team.

I have no idea how to begin my senior send-off. I’ll start off by saying that The Hofstra Chronicle was my first family at Hofstra. These four years really flew by faster than I ever could have expected.

The Chronicle is a weird, magical place. It’s a place where I’ve wanted to rip my hair out when articles came in past deadline or cry under the desk when InDesign thought it would be funny to crash before I had the chance to save A&E’s layout.

In fall 2018, I was a freshman just looking to get as involved at Hofstra as possible. Coming from the high school I did, joining clubs, being involved and showing school spirit was something that was more or less ingrained in me.

At my high school, we had a small newspaper called “The Voice.” It wasn’t the greatest, to be perfectly honest, with the year I joined being the year the school budget cut our ability...

Photo courtesy of David HenneWhen I joined the Chronicle during my freshman year, I wanted to be a journalist. I didn’t put much thought into why. I liked politics, I was good at writing and I...

A lot has changed in my life throughout my time at Hofstra. The one constant, though, has been The Hofstra Chronicle.

It’s ironic how much difficulty I’m having with beginning this send-off. As a journalism major, writing is what I’m supposed to be able to do with ease. Give me an album to review or a person to feature and I don’t struggle to write. But how do you write a goodbye to one of the best parts of your college experience? 

When I came to this university, I knew that I wanted to write. It’s what I had always loved – always imagined myself doing. I felt comforted by the words that flowed out of me and angry when they refused. It was a beautiful balance between brilliance and insanity, a practice in art that I spend every day trying to perfect, no matter how futile the exercises seem to be. 

Life is funny in that very few people truly care about your ideas. You have your family, friends and significant other, of course, but others are often too preoccupied with their own lives to care about yours. Startling? Yes. Thus, places like The Chronicle continue to be of immense importance. 

In truth I owe my life and my future to The Hofstra Chronicle. Being editor this past year, assistant the year prior and a staff writer for all four years, my view as an arts-focused journalist has expanded way beyond the horizon I originally envisioned for myself as a naïve 18-year-old freshman.

I’ve grown with this paper for four years now. The Chronicle has allowed me to learn more at Hofstra than I ever could in a classroom. The opportunity to work with this paper made me become a better writer, leader and friend.

I truly believe that it is because of this paper that I am a better journalist. While I respect the professors here, they couldn’t teach me how to actually get out there and report. It was like taking swim lessons on dry land. The Chronicle threw me into the deep end and I never looked back.