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Senior reflects on college experience |
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Thursday, 24 April 2008 |
There are very few things I remember from my freshman year of college as clearly as walking into The Appalachian newspaper office for my first staff meeting.
Knees shaking, I was scared to death as I pondered what in the world I had gotten myself into.
But inside that office I found a group of amazing, welcoming students - many who were so completely different from me, but whose love of writing we shared.
Two weeks later, my first article was published on the front page and I was hooked.
I would be with The Appalachian for the rest of college.
Here I am, three and a half years later, as an editor.
Over the years, there have been many times that watching four hours of
television sounded more appealing than running across campus tracking
down sources for my story.
But every time I thought about leaving, I knew it would be impossible
for me to walk past a rack of The Appalachian and not be a part of it.
My involvement in The Appalachian has defined my existence on this campus.
To both past and present The Appalachian staff members – thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I have found it is almost impossible to explain what we did and why it
matters so much, but just knowing that so many of you understood and
felt the same is enough.
To the 2007-08 Editorial Board: It has been a trip.
I recall so many late production nights in the office when half of me wanted to scream because we were still there at midnight.
Then all I had to do was look around at my company and I couldn’t help but smile.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your dedication and your friendships.
We have much to be proud of.
Clair Baxter: You did an amazing job this year. Your commitment was not overlooked.
I will never
forget driving to the end-of-the-year picnic with you our freshman year
as we plotted our impending departure from The Appalachian.
Well, I’m glad we stuck it out and I’m so very proud of our accomplishments.
Appalachian journalism department: This is my charge to you - step it up.
I am completely serious when I say that if I had not been involved in
The Appalachian, I would feel completely and desperately unprepared to
enter the workforce.
In my Print Newswriting class, I received not one article back with a grade or any feedback.
Thankfully, I was a news reporter for The Appalachian so I was getting a real world, twice-weekly dose of print newswriting.
However, I doubt the students not involved in The Appalachian felt very prepared walking out of that class.
The face of journalism is changing so drastically every day.
We talk about this shift – but we don’t learn near enough to be ready for it upon graduation.
With the exception of a few, most of the faculty seem to either be unconcerned or simply unable to teach for the future.
A serious overhaul of the curriculum requirements in the department
needs to be undertaken, and professors hired or taught to teach the new
material.
Until this is done, I believe the communication department is doing a disservice to the students receiving journalism degrees.
However, despite the lofty time commitments of The Appalachian, I did manage to attend class - at least sporadically.
To Heather Preston, Roger Gonce, Paul Gates, Mark Bradbury, Adam
Newmark, Calvin Hall, and Jeremy Fox: Thank you for engaging me in your
classes and putting up with my sometimes spotty attendance.
To Katie Gilliam: You have been my heart and my strength for over
three years. We have had our good times, our terrible moments and our
scares – but you know everything about me and that’s rare.
I can be 100 percent wholly myself with you and I appreciate it more than you know.
Clara Shoemaker: You entered my life as an innocent, quiet girl – then you learned the Bolivian accent and that all changed.
Thank you for being there for me in so many ways throughout the last
two years. We have grown both together and in our own ways, and I have
no doubt this friendship will continue forever.
Jimmy: You have added so much to my last semester of college. Your
understanding nature in the past few weeks has surpassed everything I
could have asked for. Thank you for your compassion, humor and
kindness. Let’s listen to Dashboard later.
Although they have not been with me day to day for the past four years, I would be remiss to not include my family in this.
I am so blessed to have parents who support me in everything – even if it takes me far from them for months on end.
So much of who I am and what I want to become is inspired by you, Mom, Dad and Jamoe. I love you so much.
To Appalachian students: If there is one thing I would urge you all to do it is to question everything.
Question the media. Question The Appalachian.
Question the administration. Question the government.
But most of all - question yourself. The beliefs you came to college
with are not likely the ones you will leave with, and that’s normal. In
fact, it’s ideal.
To the Crazy 8s, Dave, my liberal drummer, Galen, Mark, Stebens, Jason,
Cory, Chris, Team Liberal, Ivey, Lindsay (my NYC girl), Brandon, Derek,
and, last but certainly not least, J La – you all have had a distinct
part in molding the person I graduate as.
Thank you so much for the memories, the laughs and the challenges.
Whoever said college is the best time of your life obviously didn’t move to New York City upon graduation.
I have much to look forward to, but walk away a very lucky girl with four years of amazing memories.
They aren’t kidding when they say it flies.
Soak Boone in like a sponge.
Millie Tolleson, a senior journalism and public relations major from Hendersonville, is the Associate Editor for Editorial Content.
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