As I sit here writing this, I find it a little hard to summarize what has been some of the most impactful years of my life. It’s a little silly to say that, considering it’s only been four years, but whatever. And guys, please pardon my writing in this, I’m not used to writing about myself.
I’ve probably used this hook at least five times in all of my essays, but once more won’t hurt. I joined East Side News because I didn’t want to sit in the lunch room as a freshman. When I saw Mia Graske and Rayne Branch doing the East Side News booth at my orientation, I barely thought twice. Sure, Mia and Rayne were cool, and Mia would go onto be someone I looked up to immensely, but in the moment, East Side News was just another flyer in my hand. The year started, and to make a long story short, I was in.
At that point, I had never written a story in the AP style– which I learned embarrassingly late meant “Associated Press,” but we aren’t talking about that right now. I remember vividly writing my first story on the “freshman experience,” and I also remember crashing out about it because of how embarrassingly bad it was (although, I don’t know why I went so crazy over that story, no one’s first piece is any good). I still can’t bring myself to read that piece by the way, I don’t even know how it got published. I had always prided myself on being a good writer, math and science were never strengths of mine. So when I joined East Side News, and would get a notification that my google doc was edited with at least 10 comments, I was frustrated. My first year at East was characterized by struggling to find interviews and writing about things that I frankly didn’t care too much about.
I can’t lie, I wanted to quit. What was supposed to be something fun was turning into something that seemed like more of a chore. Being a part of a publication running heavily on deadlines was a responsibility I wasn’t quite ready for yet. Sure, I had gotten to know a lot of the other writers, and gotten a lot closer to some of them, but it was getting to a point where I couldn’t justify the stress it was causing me.
Going into sophomore year, the thought of quitting was still up in the air. I owe not doing that to Ms. Galvan. I was still kind of coming out of my shell at that point; it was sophomore year when I really started taking “fake it till you make it” to heart. I won’t get into the details, this is supposed to be a fun story. But had it not been for Ms. Galvan, I probably would’ve never “made it,” whatever making it in this context means.
Before Ms. Galvan, I had never had a teacher believe in me like her. I was never the most academically strong student, but with journalism and Ms. Galvan– Ms. Goated, as I had begun to call her– I felt like there was something I could finally pride myself on being good at. Without journalism and East Side News– actually, without Mia and Rayne, probably– I never would’ve found my passion for journalism. East Side News taught me how to be more confident in myself.
I never would’ve had the confidence to rejoin band after several years of not touching an instrument. I never would’ve had the strength to join wrestling my senior year. I never would’ve been as confident of a stage manager as I was. All of my successes throughout my time at East can be attributed in some way to the person East Side News had, lets face it: force me to become. And I truly never would’ve had it any other way.
Ms. Galvan, I never could’ve done what I’ve done here without you, I can’t imagine what East Side News would’ve been like if you didn’t take a permanent job here. There’s so much I can say, but I’ll keep it simple: thanks Big G!
To Luna and Jasmine, I love you guys so much. I never would’ve even joined East Side News had it not been for you guys. For that, I’m insanely grateful.
As a freshman, I struggled with identity. Every one did, but it’s safe to say that I never would’ve found myself had it not been for this.
To East Side News, thanks for everything. It truly was best to be a Bengal. Roar!
