My relationship with the Massachusetts Daily Collegian started as a socially acceptable way to ask people what on earth was going on. It has evolved far, far past that; I’ve gained a home, people I know I can rely on and a better sense of the world.
I came from Florida having never seen a semi-significant snowfall. Living somewhere is very different from reading about it or visiting; when I showed up my freshman year, I had no idea what I was doing or how the town and university around me worked. Reporting was my excuse to learn.
So, what have I learned? For one, I know more facts. Universities are endlessly complex places. Records sure are hard to get in Massachusetts. Institutional memory in the Student Government Association is an eternal issue that will certainly outlive us all.
Most of what I learned, however, was emotional. Reporting for the Collegian made me fall in love with Amherst and with the University of Massachusetts. No matter the flaws or challenges in institutions or communities, I always saw people who cared enough to make things better.
Reporting taught me I love research. The feeling of knowing something previously unknown is unmatched. Sharing it to whoever listens feels even better.
At the same time, it has become incredibly apparent to me that the Collegian is the only place I would ever want to be a journalist.
Journalism is rough. The incentives of digital journalism are terrible; the most rewarding days as a journalist are the worst days of someone else’s life. You end up as a bystander to events and the life of your stories about those events.
Most crushingly, you put your heart and soul into every line you type, all to get yelled at by everyone (and, once literally, their mother). As a student journalist, you are both a student reporter, unworthy of a quick comment, and a “real” reporter, worthy of and all possible criticisms.
The complaints are good — the best way to know you’ve written a bad story is if no one has anything to say about it. Not all of the criticisms are valid or correct, but every once in a while, you make a mistake or let one trickle through. Getting things wrong is normal. It still hurts.
But the Collegian is important because it bears the responsibility of all of those roles that are often impossible to tie together. We’re a student paper, yes, but we measure up to the others. We don’t chase clicks, we just strive to provide the news accurately and precisely while training a new generation of writers through that reporting, and we do.
So, I’ve stuck with the Collegian and journalism, until now. Part of why I stayed is what I view as my obligation to UMass, the school I’ve come to love, and its community. Reporting matters, and I’ve seen its power first-hand.
The larger reason I’ve stuck with the Collegian is the people, and the faith they’ve given me that we’re doing something right. The staff of the Collegian have given me hope, in the future, in humanity and in journalism.
Luke Ruud and Alex Genovese took a scared freshman, told him what a “graf” is, and taught him to write. Jack Underhill gave me the chance to be an assistant editor and empowered me to explore whatever I dreamed up.
And then, I started to make friends in the Collegian and made it my home. Sydney Warren, thank you for saying “why not” and tackling formal freshman year with me. It was, well, a time.
Nathan Legare, I have no idea why you agreed to have me as a roommate, but I’m glad you did. Thank you for your friendship.
Abby Joyce, Grace Lee, Mahidhar Lakkavaram and Olivia Capriotti, thank you for treating a confused sophomore as an equal.
Caitlin Reardon and Johnny Depin, thank you for trusting me with the news section. Johnny, it has been a pleasure to yell at the TV with you. Caitlin, thank you for always being honest, keeping me accountable and easing me into the fire.
Mia Blue, thank you for never letting my numerous “we went in a different direction” calls affect our friendship. Paige Hanson, Sam LoConte and Sam Cavalheiro, thank you for the entertainment, friendship and honesty.
Alex Hill, thank you for being the best possible person I could ever trust the news section with. And, for knowing exactly when a trip to the Hangar was desperately needed.
Carson Cornelius Burke, thanks for bearing with me. In the hope that people eventually realize you do not dictate what we say, I decline to thank you for your beauty and glamour.
Kalina Kornacki, thank you for being the person I needed as Managing Editor. I have no idea what would have happened this year without your guidance and urgency.
George Coulouras and Daniel Estrin, it’s been a pleasure to see you both grow. I have no doubt both of you will do great next year and am glad to pass this place on to a pair who care as much as I do.
And to everyone else, you are so much more than “everyone else.” What I love about the Collegian is that everyone I’ve worked with cares — about people, about what they report on and about each other. That’s what I’ve really learned at the Collegian — the capacity of people to care.
I will probably never write another article. Things just aren’t shaping up that way, and that’s alright. I’ll be fine, law school will treat me well. But I will miss the feeling of these late nights and last-minute phone calls, the feeling of writing a perfect (or at least adequate) headline. Yet as I turn my press pass in, what I miss most are the people who I worked with, and what we created.
So, to everyone who has ever written or will ever write for the Collegian: thank you for all that you do. The critics are usually literate, their criticisms tough and their words important. But so are you, so is what you say and so is what you write.
Thank you to the Collegian, for giving me a chance.
Daniel Frank was the Editor-in-Chief. He can be reached at [email protected]. Complaints can be directed, as always, to [email protected].
