A reflection on my time with The Weekly

As I sit here writing my last article for The Weekly, I’m so grateful for the opportunities that I was given to be a part of such an amazing process every week. One of the things that I loved most about this job was getting to hear students’ voices. Op/Ed was special to me because I felt after reading someone’s article, I really got the chance to know the writer. I felt much more connected to my campus, the community, and the world as a whole. Being an editor for the paper made me more in touch with pressing issues, and I enjoyed every part of gathering various reactions from students on things that we were both passionate about.

I have also enjoyed getting the chance to learn about different clubs and organizations. More recently, Op/Ed became a space to feature Letters to Editor. This addition allowed for more voices to be heard in a different way, and I enjoyed getting the chance to feature campus concerns. I felt connected and excited to the views of others. This year in particular, getting in touch with different organizations speaking about a common subject was a really cool experience that gave me the opportunity to analyze different perspectives. I think that this is one of the reasons why being an editor is so special—you really get the chance to see it all. I worked with writers who brightened my view on politics, entertainment, and even matters of tank tops at the gym or the academic calendar. I loved that I had the chance to publish students’ voices.

Of course, I owe so much of this experience to the amazing staff that I worked with for the past three years who have been so passionate about changing the face of journalism at Muhlenberg. I’ve seen this paper transform, and I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to work with such passionate and driven editors that cared so much for their sections and the future of this paper. We cultivated conversation, and I have so enjoyed getting the chance to be a part of something that worked to illuminate so many aspects of this college—something that was greater than the small bubble in which I resided in at Muhlenberg.

As all endings are, passing over my editor position is bittersweet. I am, of course, sad to see this end. I’ll miss the Tuesday rush, the Thursdays spent brainstorming pressing issues, hearing my writers’ passion behind their words, and I’ll even miss making countless mistake s working with our computer layout program. However, I am so excited to pass Op/Ed over to the new editor, Emily Davidson. This paper is a special community that has created great work, and I cannot wait to see how it continues to grow. As corny as it sounds, I will always carry the lessons that The Weekly taught me in timeliness, making connections with others through news, and collecting opinions, but I can’t wait to be a reader and see what the rest of this year has in store for this paper.