“Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.”
This quote comes from Mary Oliver’s poem “Sometimes.” This set of instructions outlines exactly how I like to live my life, and I’ve been able to do this even more as editor-in-chief of The Simpsonian.
I never imagined myself to be in this role, nor did I think I’d become as involved in student media as I am. In fact, I was terrified to write for the newspaper starting in the fall of my junior year. I was worried I would be judged for not being very good at writing, but apparently, I was memorable enough for Siebert to remember how strong my writing was despite him not seeing it for over a year.
My first assignment on staff was writing the horoscopes, to which Siebert wrote on my weekly evaluation, “You are a good writer, and you’re smart. If I was editor of The Simp, I’d assign you the tough, complicated stories.”
His feedback on my first evaluation and my close relationships with upperclassmen on the editing team motivated me to put forth my best effort, and I couldn’t be more grateful that I was partially forced to apply for the position when no one else wanted to (I secretly did want to, I just felt out of place due to imposter syndrome).
Little did I know that I would be the editor-in-chief a year later and have the privilege of assigning those tough, complicated stories to the staff to amplify students’ voices. Additionally, I never would’ve imagined I’d receive the Outstanding Senior in Multimedia Communication award at Honor’s Convocation this year for my work in my courses and student media.
In my time as the head of the campus newspaper, I didn’t do much writing, which I regret… although the writing I did contained some (allegedly) controversial opinions about the use of AI and about campus dining moving to Kent (which were both opinion pieces, mind you).
However, my role allowed me to motivate others to take on the challenge of contributing to student media. It’s rewarding and fulfilling to see the growth of the staff reporters and the paper itself throughout the year, and it’s been an honor to contribute to that growth.
Being able to share the stories of our community is one of the greatest highlights in my time at Simpson because I love advocating, promoting and sharing both the good and the bad to help make our campus the best it can be.
I could spend hours going on about how impactful student media was on my experience at Simpson, but then I wouldn’t be concise, which goes against fundamental media writing principles.
It’s been an honor to serve as the editor-in-chief of The Simpsonian. It doesn’t feel real that my time here is up, and I’m going to miss it greatly.
Remember to pay attention to what’s around you, be astonished by everything, and tell people about it, whether it’s in various forms of media or by word of mouth. Everyone’s got a voice, and I encourage you to use it to make our community a better place.
Signing off,
Makayla Paulsen
