I am finally passing the Torch and have the graduation cap to prove it.
Working at this newspaper since freshman year has easily been the most influential piece of my college experience. I’ve succeeded, failed and grown more than I could have predicted three years ago.
Watching our staff grow in both number and maturity is my greatest pride. I can’t wait to see what they do next year.
I could write hundreds of op-eds about the importance of a student-run newspaper and hundreds more about the people I met through this job. For the sake of time and page space, I’ll focus on three things I’m most grateful for.
First, our advisor Garrett Stack. He doesn’t like to take much credit for the work produced at the Torch, but I know how invaluable his influence is.
From the beginning, Stack trusted me to find a lead and run with it. He never hesitated to answer my questions or offer guidance when asked, but it wasn’t his intention to control a single word we printed. More often than not, the most important thing he told me was to “stop fretting.”
Because of Stack’s straightforward teaching and advising methods, I learned how to stay calm in the newsroom. Mistakes are always critiqued, but they’re nothing to fixate on for longer than one edition. This allowed me to become a more confident student and reporter every week.
Next, I want to thank Dr. Bill Pink for helping me usher in a new era at the Torch.
As an underclassman, I found myself in the midst of a tense relationship between Ferris’ faculty and administration. This relationship was older than me and expanded much farther than I ever learned on the job. The Torch was unable to get in contact with a large portion of administrators, decreasing the quality of our work and deepening this rift in the process.
The week Pink was announced to be David Eisler’s successor, he told me that I never needed to thank him for offering his time to the student newspaper. I’m taking this moment to clearly and intentionally ignore that. Pink’s administration, which coincides with my time as a leader at the Torch, marked a turning of the tides.
If someone had told us years ago that Torchies would one day meet with the president, the provost and other vice presidents, we may have laughed. Today, it is reality. I appreciate this effort and see it as a step in the right direction for transparency at Ferris.
Finally, I owe countless thanks to two people so close to me, even as I moved from being their friend to their boss.
To Giuliana and Dylan, I don’t know what this year would have looked like without you. We weren’t always happy with the job, ad-space or even with each other, but you always kept me anchored to what this newspaper meant to me when I started.
There was a time I feared I’d never find community at Ferris. I know you can relate. Now, it is so clear that the Torch doesn’t work without deep relationships. I’m so happy to have experienced mine with you both.
Dylan, good luck next year.