I’m a first-generation, low-income student, and when I came to Grinnell, I assumed the only job I could have here would be a position in the Dining Hall — which, to be fair, I loved. However, my passion lies more in arts writing and editing than washing pots and pans. Because of my assumptions, I found my opportunity at The S&B a little late in my time at Grinnell, in my third year. Once I applied and began as staff writer, I fell in love with covering campus culture. 

In my time writing articles, I’m proud to say I’ve contributed to each section except sports — sorry, Mo! Within those contributions, though, I’ve stuck with arts-centered coverage because, at the heart of it, that is what I want to do. I feel lucky to have figured that out, and The S&B was more than a big part of that.

This past semester was my first as editor of the arts section, and it has grown to be something challenging and exciting to me. Ultimately, editing has taught me more about the importance of community coverage. In researching what to pitch, I reached out to more professors, students and staff members than I had ever talked to before. Seeing those same people reading articles about them made me think about that importance.

My favorite part of working at the paper has been collaborating with other people on the staff — writers, editors and the visuals team. This job is an essential one to the community and has some of the roughest deadlines that I’ve dealt with. However, my fellow students not only work hard in preparation and during our meetings, they also really make me smile, and laugh and learn.

I can honestly say that I will miss this job. In my bio on The S&B website, I always joke that I want to turn going to concerts into a career, and I’ve been able to do that here alongside some wonderful people.