Woody Allen once famously said, “eighty percent of success is showing up.” This wise quote encapsulates my earlier years on The

Maroon-News staff, during which I irreverently came to the office and “observed” for hours alongside people with whom I couldn’t move beyond the acquaintance level. This is how The Maroon-News has consequently added the most value to my time at Colgate University.

I walked into the run-down office in October of my freshman year and asked for Samantha – there was no Samantha, but a Stephanie who I had emailed and whose name I had just botched, which seemed catastrophic at the time. The news section put me on my first article – the Eid banquet in the Hall of Presidents hosted by the Muslim Student’s Association. This went horrifically, and in hindsight, I am shocked that I am still on staff to date.

Highlights of this article include my tendency to translate irrelevant Arabic phrases, my use of the word “jovial,” and my quoting of “the woman” who ran a prayer ceremony. The news editors were particularly floored at my presumption that I could quote “the woman” and get away with it. Not so, I learned. 

Despite this train wreck of an article, I continued to write for The

Maroon-News. Writing an article per week, I slowly learned to quote people with their actual names and contact event organizers before going to an event. But becoming a decent “journalist” is not what is most important about my time at The Maroon-News.

I put in substantial hours and for the most part, it paid off. Contributing and volunteering my time allowed me to move up The Maroon-News ladder and get internships as a result of the time I put in to the paper. Because I sat and observed, I was able to easily take the reigns as a section editor and speak eloquently about my skills and experiences in interviews. Those early years taught me that Woody Allen is right, and showing up counts for a lot (for me, it was closer to 100 percent than 80 at that point). I also learned that the road to success is slow and earned – goal achievement and upward movement does not always come when we think we deserve it.  

Now I do more than just “show up.” Beyond my position as Managing Editor, I also have the esteemed responsibility of picking up Slices for the staff meetings each week, which makes me an invaluable staff member in the eyes of many. Kidding aside, while I hope to never again find myself sitting, unoccupied and silent, in a tiny non-air-conditioned attic room for four hours per week, I value the resiliency and persistence with which the situation left me. The Maroon-News is by no measure my favorite part of the last four years, nor even close to my least favorite, but it has been a solid experience, and one that I very much value and in which I take pride when looking back on my experience at Colgate.

The end of my time with The Maroon-News brings with it a variety of sentiments. Some might just be associated with the end of my time in college and having pangs of nostalgia hit. Others, however, are related specifically to culminating my college-journalism career. As I mentioned in my final Editor’s Column a couple weeks back, The Maroon-News has been the activity I have been involved with the longest in my time at Colgate, starting with the Pre-Orientation program in August of 2011. The fact that I have been a part of ~roughly~ 112 layouts for the oldest college weekly in America is unbelievable. 

I have enjoyed getting to know members of the staff over the last four years, training students younger than myself and

transitioning from a staff writer to an assistant editor to a section editor to senior staff. I am proud of the work that we have done in my time on the paper, and I am thrilled to have witnessed important changes and advancements that The Maroon-News has made.

While college newspapers are not extinct by any means, their futures have uncertainty. It was a problem that we at The Maroon-News faced in the light of the 21^st century, where so much news is online, whether or not the school found it worthwhile to allocate our organization adequate funding at times, or whether we were driving in enough advertising revenue. Maybe it’s just me being a helpless-romantic for print journalism, but I find it so important to tangibly have a newspaper that could be passed between peers as a way to translate information and engage the community in important dialogue. Whether it was friends laughing at the Blotter in Frank over lunch, or seeing students take a break from their own work in the library to read the latest articles, I was proud to see the Colgate community continuously bring The Maroon-News into their day-to-day lives at school.

Though not all moments while working on The Maroon-News were pristine, I feel that there should be no regrets, just lessons learned. Some of the most memorable instances that stand out to me from my time with the paper have been in more stressful situations or instances of tension on campus, as I feel that they were the moments that the true strength of the students who care about the publication really thrived. I especially feel that this year, when the campus climate was at the forefront of thoughtful conversation and discussion, our publication showcased its abilities. Both our staff writers and student submitters articulately discussed issues of race, gender, sexuality and identity at Colgate, and I was proud to be a part of a student organization that welcomed and encouraged that kind of discussion in print. 

I believe in the importance of the relationship between the newspaper and the Colgate community, and in the importance of student journalism at large. The Maroon-News’ relationship with Colgate students and administrators is one that should be respected and strengthened, and that can only keep happening with the support of everyone on campus who help to enhance our credibility and stature. I know there are so many more voices throughout the community that The Maroon-News has not already shared, and therefore I encourage all students to contemplate writing for us regularly or submitting a commentary piece at some point in their time in college.

Thanks to all for taking the time to read, both this piece and over the last four years.