Journalistic writing has always been important to me, and I’m so grateful for being able to express myself in the Stute throughout my time here. In elementary school, I started my own newspaper to share my ideas with my classmates. Handwritten and photocopied at Staples, it was a short-lived but fondly remembered venture into print journalism. In high school, my focus shifted from the humanities to the more technical; I got involved in carpentry and engineering electives. When I was accepted into Stevens, my mom encouraged me to enroll in a school that had more options for humanities, because she knew I would need a creative outlet.
Coming to campus in 2020, it was really difficult to be involved with clubs with everything online. Zoom GBMs didn’t allow me to connect with my peers like I wanted, and I was only vaguely aware of The Stute because we weren’t printing weekly, just posting online. I wrote my first article because I was interested in discussing the cost of living on campus and how the UCC Residential Towers would change upperclassmen housing. In each of my articles, I tried to document the student perspective: a slice of what life was like at the time. I can look back on my growth at Stevens through the lens of my writing. I loved documenting how culture has changed over my time here: masking policies, the opening of the UCC, and the return of the live music scene. I’ve enjoyed speaking with clubs, departments, and offices that I otherwise would not have overlapped with to explore current events within the student body.
Of course, I’ve loved the people I met through The Stute. I’ve had so much fun with this group: coming up with Stupe articles, end-of-year dinners, GBMs and board meetings, Stute Weekend, decorating, reorganizing, and moving offices, and pranking the SGA office by completely wrapping it in newspapers. The Stute team has been some of the most supportive, brilliant people I’ve interacted with. It’s one thing to be able to understand tough technical and engineering concepts, and another to be able to write about it in a way that engages and connects with your audience. I admire that the Stute staff is dedicated to practicing that skill regularly, on top of their other, often unrelated school assignments. We do it because we love it, we grow from it, and writing makes us better.
To my underclassmen: I’m happy to leave The Stute in your hands. Remember The Stute is a platform for all students, we have a gift and responsibility to amplify student voices. Go and search for the stories that need telling, the organizations that deserve recognition, and the questions that need to be analyzed. Teach the incoming journalists how to think critically about information they receive, ask the right questions, and report holistically.
To the people I’ve spent my years with: I will miss seeing you so frequently. I know I will see updates of your success from afar, and be so proud that I’m able to call you my friends. I’m looking forward to reminiscing, calling just to chat, and talking about the lives we’ve made for ourselves. No matter the distance or time that separates us, even if we lose frequent contact, I will remember the impact your love has had on me. And of course, when you ever remember me fondly: reach out.
