Another year winds downs for everyone. Papers to write, projects to turn in, research to be done. Tensions run high and every senior realizes that for them, these will be the last assignments they will ever have to complete. This time of year is celebratory, stressful and emotional. And for many of my friends, it’s almost done.
I had the (mis)fortune of having the first round of senior send-ons for my sorority the same day I relinquished my power as editor-in-chief of The Rotunda. Though I wish I had more time in the office to say goodbye to my desk, my computer and my staff, in my own little way, there was relief there.
I can honestly say that I’m not worried about the new staff. They are young, they are enthusiastic and they are incredibly passionate. I just hope the new guys, the ones who have never had this wonderful experience before, fall in love with it as much as I did.
I want them to see this paper the way I did. Not only was it an outlet to learn, to gain experience, to be able to put something on my resume, but it was also an entrance into a new life, with new people that I am proud to call friends.
So, as I sat there during send-ons, phone in hand wondering if I was going to get some “the world has gone to hell” text message that would summon me to the office (one never came), I thought about the past few years of my life and my few achievements over its course.
I would consider myself a late bloomer. I didn’t get involved on-campus until later in my college career. I drank, I smoked and I skipped a lot of classes. I was too focused on some boy and hanging out with my friends, I didn’t stop to realize how much this campus had to offer me. I was (and still am) a horrible person. I made a lot of mistakes my freshman year, mistakes that still haunt me today, but I overcame.
Well, as much as I could overcome anyway. Back then, I thought that if I wanted to be cool, I had to not care. Getting involved made me a square, being interested in the history of my school was lame. My friends were excited to be in college, but too busy or too lazy to go to things I thought were interesting. So I ignored it all. I stayed inside my room. I thought
it’d be better that way. I was wrong. So, so wrong. One of my regrets was
not realizing this sooner. It took me a really long time to realize that it’s okay
to go out and do things on your own. Independence is not weakness. Not having someone you know next to you doesn’t make you lame or weird. If you’re passionate about something, do it. Nothing is going to stop you. A majority of the time, the only things holding you back are the thoughts in your own head.
There are so many things I would have done if I had the courage to get over my insecurities and just go out and put myself out there. I would have joined the SGA, I would have gone to more events, I would have volunteered more, gone to Mountain Lake, hosted my own radio show or gone through recruitment earlier.
But alas, I did none of those things. But that’s okay. I found my passion, and with that, I found myself in the highest position of my organization. My heart will always be in print media, and I have this newspaper to thank for reaffirming that belief.
So I urge you, no matter what age you are, if there’s something you want to do, go out and do it. Seize the day, and take the chances you’re too afraid to take. There’s a thrill in going out into the unknown. It’s exciting, and it’s new. Who knows, maybe you’ll find your new passion or meet your new best friend.
What scared me the most about putting myself out there was not having anyone to talk to, not having the safety blanket of a friend by my side. Sure, that’s a nice sentiment, but sometimes that’s not always the case. So my advice to anyone who’s willing to take it, young, old, whatever, is this: take chances and risks. Dare to try the exciting and the new, even if it’s a little bit scary.
I’ll never forget the first time I walked into The Rotunda office. I awkwardly sat in a corner as Michelle Moodhe, layout editor at the time, tried to walk me through the basics of InDesign. And in that little corner I sat, for two weeks, until an Editorial Board Application was handed to me to fill out for elections.
Elections were terrifying. I sat in a circle as I was scrutinized by the entire editorial board. Everyone staring at me, this outsider into their new world. Luckily, I was welcomed with open arms as their new assistant layout editor. Little did I know that a year later, I would be in front of them again — only this time, I was there to be elected as their leader. That night was probably the most terrified, and the most proud, I’d ever been.
And all because I walked into this little dungeon of an office one night because I wanted to lay out papers. I guess the moral of this story is that when you take chances, you never know what’s going to come of it.
Yeah, it’s a hit or miss, but don’t you want to be able to at least say you tried?
*** This editorial is an opinion stated by the writer and does not represent the views of The Rotunda or Longwood University.
