In September of 2014, I walked into The Montclarion office early in the afternoon after my class at Montclair State University. I did not know what position I wanted to take at the time, so I asked then-Editor-in-Chief Catherine Baxter to place me wherever somebody was needed (except for the sports section — I don’t know sports.)
I ended up in the copy section, but most importantly, I ended up a much happier person. I positively dreaded my start at Montclair State, thinking I would make no friends at all, like I did at County College of Morris. I was glad to be wrong, although it took me a bit to look beyond the noisy exterior of production day to find out more about the faces behind it.
In addition to meeting some wonderful people, I was also able to find what could possibly be a career path. I missed the Dow Jones Publishing internship back in October of last year, but I will certainly apply to it this year and hope for the best.
I would like to thank my assistants, Shakeema Edwards, Jinal Kapadia, Fiorella Medina, Kianna Sanders, Cassie Sardo and Mariel Vazquez for the hours of work they’ve put in. I wish good luck to both those who will be working at the copy desk next year and those who will either be moving on or have moved on to different things.
I would like to thank Tara George for being a great professor and advisor to The Montclarion, for we would not have won New Jersey Collegiate Press awards without her. I also thank Rolando Pujol for holding a class that led me to really probe the depths of the AP Stylebook and strive to get everything right.
I would like to thank Baxter for taking me on to staff last year. I would also like to thank Monika Bujas and Nick Taylor for filling in all of the gaps in my editing back when I was just starting out.
Lastly, I would like to thank both Kristen Bryfogle and Tiffany Saez for helping me to break out of my shell when it seemed impossible. I also extend thanks to Dan Falkenheim for being both a fantastic web editor and a great friend. Heck, I could go on and list everybody’s names here, but I’ll cut it short and just say the whole team is full of people who are wonderful in their own ways, and that I will miss all of them.
My undergraduate career has been far too long. I’m eager to graduate and move ahead with my life, but I do regret both not being able to take on a journalism minor or being able to contribute more to The Montclarion. Two years working with such wonderful people is not enough.
