I’m not sure exactly why, but 14-year-old me was adamant about joining The Liberator despite having zero journalistic experience and being a fearful introvert. So there I was, on the first day of school, listening, over Zoom, to Mr. Garcia and an editor heatedly discuss Marvel, and I thought, “What am I doing here?” But first impressions aren’t everything. It turns out that joining newspaper was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
Even after I spent my freshman year getting my articles and ego torn to shreds by editors’ harsh comments—one that stuck out was simply “this is bad”—I still applied to be an editor. I got my third choice, Sports, and was disappointed. But when my eyes drifted down to the other name listed under ‘Sports Section’ I sighed in relief. She was on the tennis team with me. Even though I had somehow never met her before, at least we had something in common. Three years later, Sanwi and I would still be working together, now as lead editors and with a friendship that extends far beyond the trauma bond formed during Late Nights. In fact, I have met some of my closest friends during my time on The Liberator and formed some core memories that will always stick with me—squealing with Asha about Tokyo Syoki Syodo during SXSW, getting to sit courtside at the ATX Open with Sanwi, falling into Late Night delusion with LiLi, getting trapped in the cute-outfit-ruining rain with Katie, drinking H-E-B knock-off Dr. Pepper (Dr. B) with Sarah, arguing with Megan about pages, having outside time with B8, and generally complaining about the many tasks and stresses of our very time-consuming hobby.
How much I would miss The Liberator really came home to me when driving home recently after a Late Night. I drove in silence on the dark and empty roads and realized that soon I would never drive home from another Late Night. I would never complain about another missing article. I would never be greeted with another “whatever it is, I didn’t do it” from Mr. Garcia. I would never send another stern (and scary, according to Sarah) GroupMe message. I would never co-write another article with Sanwi. And I would never eat another pizza bagel in room 701.
As sad as I am to leave The Liberator, I hope I will never lose touch with the amazing people I have met. After four years of laughter, copious amounts of stress, occasional tears, inky fingers, and way too much knowledge of InDesign shortcuts and tricks, I am ready to take my next steps. I don’t know exactly where those steps will lead me. But if The Liberator has taught me one thing, it’s to step out of my comfort zone. Wherever I go, I will keep stepping out there, because—who knows—it might be life-changing in the best way possible.
