One keyboard and 200+ articles later, I am now at the finish line, the final chapter. Before I came to Moravian, I had one goal, graduate with a high GPA. Now, I don’t want to downplay that, because that’s still a significant achievement, but I have never really struggled in school, so this goal was one that was devoid of drive and ambition.
I didn’t really care all that much about getting involved and making a difference. Why should I? Classwork was already enough, and my time here was limited anyway. When I came here, I was someone who did not really aspire for much. I just wanted to show up, take classes, get my degree and get out.
Little did I know that the cards of fate had a lot more in store for me.
I was the editor-in-chief of my high school’s newspaper, The Freedom Forum, during the height of the pandemic. Because of this, the paper was rather depressing with any sense of community lost to the new digitized education system. During that time, I felt like the last vestige of the old guard just waiting for the paper’s inevitable demise.
When I came to Moravian, I had the same feeling for The Comenian. While I loved the staff we had and enjoyed those early days of writing my rants and video game reviews, it was clear the paper was limping and needed to be rescued from the same fate I witnessed in my high school paper.
I may not have been an ambitious freshman, but this paper lit a fire in me. It showed me the power of words and how they affect people as well as the importance of those words. Despite the depressing state of affairs, I knew that at least someone read my articles and that they made an impact whether they be big or small.
By the time I was asked to be editor-in-chief, I was reluctant. I didn’t really have any aspirations to take the role, especially as a rising sophomore, and I just didn’t think I was ready. The former EIC, Nick Wan, our advisor, Professor Mark Harris, and I had multiple meetings to discuss things before I made a decision.
Six semesters and a crippling amount of sleep debt later, it’s clear where I ended up. While I was reluctant at first, I ultimately knew that this was an opportunity I could not pass up. I knew that I would kick myself later down the road if I passed up this opportunity.
I don’t know where the switch flipped, but from our first meeting with me at the helm, I’ve aspired to do great things for The Comenian. Did I know what I was doing? No, but just as much as the paper is a learning experience for our writers, it was for me as well.
I didn’t just learn how to write and edit, I learned to lead, and while I was definitely not perfect and pretty much every editor can attest to that, our collective hard work speaks for itself. We now have a lively, vibrant, and diverse staff, and we have vastly expanded our output and outreach. Like every other club on campus, COVID-19 hit this newspaper hard, but through our incredibly talented staff, we have built this paper nearly from the ground up and we now have a foundation that will hopefully only be built upon in future years.
More than any class, The Comenian has been the single most defining aspect of my college career. Nothing has challenged me like The Comenian has. Nothing has driven me like The Comenian has. Nothing has changed me like The Comenian has.
When I took on this role, I told myself that I was going to put my all into this. I wasn’t going to watch this paper die like I did in high school, I wasn’t going to waste everyone’s time by operating under the ambition of the possible.
We have done something incredible with this paper. In a school with no journalism program, we are winning competitions against schools with nationally ranked journalism programs for our reporting. We have vastly increased our audience. We have expanded the depth and scope of our reporting, and most notably, we have made a staff, no, family who’s bonds will never be broken.
This is my last time publishing for The Comenian, and this is my last article. Because of this paper, I am ready to show the world what I’m made of. Because of this paper, I realized the value of an engaged community. Because of this paper, I know that I am no longer the sad and lonely kid who let life pass him by.
