For an excruciating seven weeks, The Stute found itself in the midst of a mid-semester crisis, with our delivery person stepping down from their position unexpectedly. Usually, the job of the delivery person is to wake up at the crack of dawn every Friday, pick up the wagon from The Stute office, collect the shipment of papers from the Howe Center, and distribute the papers to 24 campus rack locations. It can be a tough routine, totaling about an hour and a half of manual labor, and it is not a glamorous task by any means. This is not intended to read as a job posting, I just want to show the amount of work that goes into this position.
Typically, a federal work-study student fills this role, which helps streamline the payment process and ensures continuity. However, we found ourselves without a paid worker for a seven-week stretch, putting the responsibility to The Stute’s E-board and more specifically, me.
As the editor-in-chief of The Stute, I felt responsible for all the issues coming up and felt like I was failing at my job. When I wasn’t able to find someone for the job, I felt obligated to do it myself. However, unlike a normal delivery person, neither I nor the other members of the E-board were getting paid. Regardless, I knew I had to step up to the challenge. While there was a bit of excitement at the prospect of delving into a side of The Stute I had never experienced before, it was far from my ideal way to spend a Friday morning at 7 a.m.
Despite the unfortunate circumstances, a silver lining emerged in the form of unwavering support from fellow members of The Stute’s leadership. I would like to specifically shout out Ava Wang, Kevin Castner Jr., Claire Hannan, and Kayden Cannilla. In the face of adversity, they not only rose to the occasion and took turns delivering but also banded together, often delivering papers in pairs. What could have been a tedious and burdening task turned into an opportunity for camaraderie and shared experiences on those early Friday mornings. Their willingness to step up when needed the most was a testament to the commitment of our team.
Fortunately, we now have a dedicated delivery person for the remaining issues. However, the period when we didn’t have someone to deliver papers proved to be a unifying experience for The Stute’s leadership. In adversity, we found solidarity, turning an unfortunate situation into an opportunity to strengthen our bonds and make the best of a challenging circumstance. I am very grateful to have such a great team who will step up when it’s needed most to support me and each other.
