My three years at The Montclarion feel impossible to sum up in one of the toughest articles I’ve had to write, and everyone knows getting me out of the editing chair and out with a pen is a feat in itself. In this moment, there are so many stories I want to share about my time with this organization and the great people it has brought into my life.
I joined The Montclarion as an English major concentrating on creative writing and a film minor. I am leaving this university saying I was both the chief copy editor and managing editor of a student-run multimedia news organization without taking a single journalism course. While I wish my degree left room for those classes, I credit my success in these roles to all of the amazing students at the publication who took me under their wings and shared their growing knowledge base with me.
https://twitter.com/SimpleCrumb/status/1063259212074106881
This leads me into my shout outs. To MY Queen and EIC, Haley Wells, starting this journey our sophomore year, we found ourselves in the bathroom of the annex talking about our hopes for this organization and how much we thought we could contribute to it. Two years later, we found ourselves in the bathroom of the newly built School of Communication and Media about to spend our senior year running the editorial board. I am still baffled that the universe lent us the hand we requested.
To my successor Mackenzie Robertson, the managing editor job is what you make it. Because of this, I wouldn’t want to leave it in the hands of anyone else. Just like your time as video editor, I know you will make the most of it. I am forever your cheerleader.
To my desk mate Anthony Gabbianelli, sitting next to you this past year has severely impacted my steps, as I used to have to walk across the office to ask sports questions when the AP Stylebook would confuse me. Regardless, thank you for always being supportive and happily representing the sports section, even with copy team’s inability to read the different sporting events’ weekly schedules without assistants.
(From left to right) former Chief Copy Editor Fiorella Medina, current Assistant Photography Editor Olivia Kearns, former Managing Editor Dominique Evans and former Editor-in-Chief Haley Wells attend The Montclarion’s 2018 end-of-semester banquet.
Carlos Andrade | The Montclarion
Of course, my time at The Montclarion wouldn’t have taken me through the rest of my days at this school without the now former Chief Copy Editor Fiorella Medina.
When I first set foot in the Student Center Annex with the intention to join the university’s newspaper, I didn’t know I was meeting someone who would become one of my best friends. With my lack of a journalism background, I wouldn’t have pushed myself to move past the copy desk without the endless support from you and Haley. OG copies for life.
To our faculty advisor Tara George, thank you for teaching me that journalistic writing is equally the art of developing your own voice as it is lending that voice to others. You have always been such a support to this organization as well as the journalism program at Montclair State University. Both of which have grown so much with your guidance. Students such as myself are proof of that.
After speaking to a journalism class at MSU yesterday, I stopped in and visited the Montclarion at their new office in the beautiful new school of communications. @TheMontclarion it’s a lot different from my time as EiC in 2010 pic.twitter.com/g7QnJWc8ke
— Kristie Cattafi (@KristieCattafi) November 28, 2018
When Susan Cole, the president of the university, told me she has been able to give her red pen a break with the 2018-2019 editorial board, I felt a sense of pride in my work that is indescribable. My only hope for the future staff is that they can maintain this.
The understanding we have at the beginning of a story should not be the same as what we walk away with. The same can be said for the experiences we have in our lives. I know that what I am walking away with at the end of my time at The Montclarion is so much more than what I started with. This publication has made my college experience.
https://twitter.com/SimpleCrumb/status/1063259212074106881
From changing positions and starting a video team all the way to winning several awards, these achievements are all a part of what has made my senior year unforgettable.
I am a better learner, thinker and teacher thanks to this publication. I’ve never felt prouder to be a part of a team and I am lucky to say I’ve spent the last three years working with some of my best friends.
During The Montclarion’s 2018 end-of-semester banquet, the 2017-18 editorial board pose for a photo.
Olivia Kearns | The Monclarion
