To Margaret,
There will be many challenges that you undertake during your tenure as Editor-in-Chief of The Bulletin at Emporia State University. You have already experienced many challenges working for the paper as an editor, but being the Editor-in-Chief will be a different sort of taxing.
There are two big struggles ahead of you.
The biggest of the two you will face is one that many people on this campus struggle with already, and yet no one seems to be willing to talk about: apathy.
Emporia State, for better or for worse, seems to have a general feeling of apathy.
It is evidenced in our classrooms, where the most common response to “How
are you doing?” is “Tired,” in our common spaces left empty and in our campus social justice movements.
When a transgender person was discriminated against on the University of Kansas’ campus, there were heavily attended protests for weeks.
When a student is sexually assaulted by a professor on this campus? Well, we know how that went.
It’s hard not to be discouraged or to feel beat down by the general apathy of campus. I have long said that the only thing the Emporia State community gets riled up about is when they’re criticized for being apathetic.
It will be part of the mantle that you take up as Editor-in-Chief to work to
change the apathetic attitude of this campus.
It will be difficult, but nothing worth doing is ever easy.
Remember, when faced with two choices, one that is easy and one that is not, it is generally always the difficult choice that helps the most people. Do not forget to keep your pride in check.
There are a lot of really great people that will walk these campus’ halls, and your job will be to tell their stories. I know you will find a way to engage and inspire the campus with their stories.
The second struggle you will experience is that of all student journalists.
A student journalist’s task is hard. You must find a way to balance going to
school full time, your life at home and your job that never sleeps.
But let’s be honest: I never really found a way to balance it.
I skipped many assignments, a class and an event to make sure that my job at The Bulletin was finished. My grades slipped. I lost friends. I received hate mail. But would I change it?
Never.
It is a bittersweet feeling to know that after writing more than 350 pieces, this is the last one I will write for The Bulletin, so I will leave it on a single word that sums up my feelings for you, Margaret, for The Bulletin and for Emporia State as a whole:
Hope.
All the best,
Sarah Elizabeth Spoon
