I wish I could tell you why I joined the newspaper. I wish I could tell some grand story about journalistic integrity and love for print or something like that. You’ve got the wrong person. Sorry, try again later.

What I can tell you is why I’ve stayed with the newspaper for three of my four years at LASA. It’s kind of remarkable that I’ve made it this long. Anyone who knows me very well knows that I am excellent at quitting things. I’ve quit elementary school soccer, middle school band, several clubs, countless hobbies; you name it, I’ve quit it. 

So what made newspaper stick? By most metrics, I wasn’t even very good at it. Deadlines were never exactly my “thing,” and my stories were just above average. Hardly a remarkable reporter.

It was the people. All of these wonderful, wisecracking, wisdom-filled people. People who form a group chat called “airing of grievances” (all lowercase, regardless of AP style). People who make graphics folders with 15 emojis in the name and text each other via Zoom private chats (love you Andrew <3). People who call you on your bullshit and make fun of your grammatical errors and are the sweetest people ever, just so long as they go to bed by 10 p.m. Everyone else in between, people who you aren’t as close to but who you can always complain about classes to, who know exactly what it means when an InDesign file has a missing link, and know how to fix it (or at the very least know who to ask for help from around a mouthful of mint Oreos). These people are the reason why I’m still in newspaper.

Well, that and the fact that it’s the only class that requires two years to get a tech credit.