Fun fact: when I was eight, I forced my parents to sit on the couch in our basement and watch “The Lexi News Show.” I sat behind a large desk with written notes and gave them the day’s news — which was often wrong or dramatized — but they listened. “Lexi News” was never real, but it was when my career started.
A lot has happened since then. I go by a different name (sort of), I grew a couple of inches and decided to go to the University of Massachusetts, among other things. However, the one thing that has remained constant is my interest in news and my desire to become a journalist.
A week into being on campus, I went to my first Massachusetts Daily Collegian meeting. Mia Blue and I sat on the floor of a dingy office and hated it. I didn’t know how to do anything, and it was hard. Yet, after a month or so, I realized I liked the challenge and enjoyed learning.
I wrote my first article, which got killed by my editors. Then I published my second, third, then I published three in one week; my 30th piece. Now I’m writing my 50th.
I’ve covered a range of stories from alleged police brutality to annual tree plantings, and with each story came learning. You’re never going to walk into a room and know everything, so you need to be open and ready to learn.
I get my love of learning from my parents; my mom is a kindergarten teacher, and my dad is a treasure chest of interesting knowledge. They both raised me to be curious, ask questions, raise my hands in casual settings and to keep learning no matter my age. Maybe that’s why I know the ratios of camels to people in Somalia or why, when I was ten, I made a descriptive drawing of the assassination of J.F.K. on the back of a pizza menu.
I’ve loved how the Collegian lets me keep learning. There’s no other profession or place that will have me learning about local zoning bylaws by sitting in a three-hour meeting one day and then having me standing in the rain at a rally for Gaza the next day. There’s something so special about the ability to do everything all at once while also passing it along to the people it matters to most.
On my 22nd birthday, my roommates and I walked through the woods to cover the fire at Olympia Place, to make sure that the people impacted knew what was happening. We were the first to give comprehensive coverage and provide students with a breakdown of the night. That’s the beauty and pain in journalism. With the Collegian, I’ve been so lucky to be able to experience it all in such a short time.
When we all come to college, we’re given a four year terminal diagnosis. Four years to make friends and memories, join clubs, make an impact, learn and grow into your career path. For some it might be more or less, but at the end of the day, we come in knowing eventually it will all end.
You never want it to end, but it must. I don’t want to say goodbye to the Collegian or to UMass, but I must. It’s sad to think that the days we’re living in right now are the days we’ll be nostalgic about for the rest of our lives. But it’s not all sadness.
I got to spend four(ish) years living with my best friends, Jenny and Ella (the first girls I wasn’t afraid to talk to). I met lifelong friends, including Zach and Vanessa who tolerate my odd tendencies.
Plus, I don’t think I’d be writing this without the continued friendship from Sam Cavalheiro and Mia Blue. I’m so grateful for you two, Paige Hanson and Sam LoConte, for littering my life with insane stories and endless laughs.
Not to mention my sweet friends, Eve Neumann, Bella Astrofsky and Grace Chai, who have made every news meeting brighter. They are three of the absolute best writers I have ever met. I am so honored to get to know them, and I can’t wait to see how they thrive and grow after the Collegian.
I can’t forget about all the people who came before me and still inspire me every day, like Johnny Depin, Shannon Moore, Capriotti, Caitlin Reardon and more. They forged a legacy I was so proud to continue.
I’m so happy to pass these legacies on to a group of intelligent and wonderful people Like Julian Sevillano and Emma Bensley (my Connecticut brethren), Daniel Estrin, Bella Ishanyan, Katie Chon and George Coulouras. Not to mention, Olivia Pang (better known as OCP), who has brought a new light into our windowless office and shown me there are still people coming in, inspired to keep this century-old paper cranking.
All these wonderful people have made me into the writer and person I am today. You can’t have a newspaper or a news broadcast with one person, and I am so happy that we all got to do this together. I’ve been so lucky that I’ve been able to learn constantly and do it alongside all of you. Thank you.
But before I go, do you want to hear a fun fact? I’m really going to miss this place.
Alexandra Hill was the Head News Editor. She can be reached at [email protected].
