When I received the news that this 30 could be used to simultaneously fulfill a newspaper requirement and an English requirement, I was, like any self-respecting LASA student, thanking my lucky stars that I could cross two things off my to-do list at once. However, I eventually became dissatisfied with the idea of mushing the LASA experience and The Liberator experience together in a half-wit sort of way. Like any self-respecting LASA student, I tried to separate the two assignments regardless of the fact that it created more work for me. In spite of that, as I started to write, I found that the two were so interlinked in my journey to magnet endorsement that I couldn’t write about them independently. And that it was hard for me to sound like a half-wit. Thus (and sorry about that long-winded explanation), I present to you my mush of LASA and The Liberator.
Procuring more and more work for myself is how much of my time at the paper went—I was unsatisfied with my pages or my article and so I spent hours shifting things pica by pica on pages 2, 3, and 4. It’s a natural inclination for most students here to scrutinize until their eyes are bloodshot and the hour hand has long abandoned its zenith. Newspaper brought a thirst for perfection out of me.
This thirst was complemented by academic validation in my classes. The writing skills that I picked up from the senior editors I idolized were stoked by analysis and commentary on Dante and Gatsby. A newfound love of pulling the knots and kinks from stories as an editor pushed me to apply to tutor at the writing center. Picking apart the mistakes in our paper inspired me to seek journalistic guidance at The School of the New York Times and I applied what I learned to papers in great ideas and history courses. The Liberator has so greatly shaped my LASA experience that my life without it would likely have been completely different. I am so grateful to each person who contributed to where I am now, whether they are on The Liberator, in my classes, or at the front of the room guiding instruction. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.
