By Melissa Boyd (Whetstone editor)
Melissa Boyd / Brittany Phillips for The Whetstone
Ever love something so much you almost hate it?
I’ve been on The Whetstone since my freshmen year. I knew as soon as I decided to come to Wesley that I wanted to be on the newspaper. I’m a writer and I always will be.
It’s finally my senior year. Next semester, I’m student teaching. I’ll be in the real world.
I say it with such a bittersweet taste in my mouth. I’m so excited for my future and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but I’m leaving something behind that used to be my light: my newspaper.
I’ve had an amazing experience with the newspaper.
I’ve gotten to know all of the reporters and photographers, the ones that stayed and the ones that went.
I’ve gained relationships, both professional and social, to students, faculty, staff and administration.
I’ve become incredibly close to my adviser, Victor Greto, and know that his mentorship to me has changed my life for the better.
It has been a rough journey at times. Let me just name some of the few difficulties that my job came with: reporting news with a non-biased point of view, even if you have extreme personal views about the article you’re writing; interviewing administration (used to be a scary process!); interviewing your own peers, who sometimes refuse to talk to you; threatening to be sued (twice); and finding reporters (it’s rewarding work, but few people think it’s worth the work).
Like I said, those are just a few.
How many times have I stared for hours, doing layout, at the Mac in front of me, cursing, wishing I had joined a club on campus that required less work?
How many times did I leave The Whetstone office, feeling dejected, despised even by some and trying to remember why I was fighting so hard for the newspaper, my reporters, myself and the articles we chose to write?
How many times have I been criticized, emailed from angry students, graduated students, faculty or staff?
How many times have I heard, “Why did you even have to cover that story!†(The answer always is, “BECAUSE IT’S THE NEWS!â€)
Too many times to remember.
But how many times have I been complimented? How many times have I heard “thank you†for covering that news story that really needed to be covered? How many times have I seen students, professors and administrators run to the College Center when they saw others with a new copy of The Whetstone?
Even more times than all of the negative stuff combined.
Saying goodbye is the last thing I want to do.
I never thought I could become the person or the writer that I am today. But I did.
I never thought I would have made such a mark on Wesley. But I suppose I did.
I wish the best of luck to my current managing editor and future Editor-in-Chief Linnea Cavallo.
She’s a strong writer and an even stronger person because you do have to have thick skin to be a Whetstone editor. She’s motivated, determined and I hand over my leadership to her, knowing I’ve left with someone decent in charge (something I had always feared considering how many people join the paper and then leave within a couple of weeks!).
I’d say go easy on her, being as it’s her first year flying solo with the newspaper.
But I know she won’t go easy on you. If it’s the news, she’ll cover it
