It is a common trope for students at George Washington to complain about the lack of school spirit. If there ever should have been such a person, it ought to have been me.
My first year was online, my second year was spent abroad between Northern Ireland and Chile, and my third year is also my final at GW since I am graduating early. I had very little time to set down roots in Foggy Bottom. Returning to Shenkman Hall, I never quite experienced that sensation one is supposed to get when coming home. Despite this, I was able to find my place among one particular group of people. As I leave this campus the feeling that lingered in the recesses of my mind when I graduated high school has returned. It is a solemn sensation; I am leaving—in some ways—my family. I am convinced I only feel this today because of WRGW.
I wasn’t going to add a club to my schedule when I returned from Chile. I had spent a year at the Hatchet watching editors massacre my articles and a sour taste resurfaced when I remembered my tenure there. But a friend I had been abroad with, Hayley Lenamon, convinced me to apply to the news department. I am quite glad I listened to her.
Working on the international news show PINDROP, I met some of the most friendly colleagues I could hope to work with. With Ian Kearns, Taylor McKinnie, Kate McKown, and Wajeeha Amir, we turned PINDROP into a podcast worthy of professional publication—interviewing diplomats, lawmakers, and even a head of government. But more than that, it gave me something to look forward to at the end of the week rather than an uneventful Friday night: the warm smiles, hectic button-pressing, and panicked chord-pullings that characterized every episode.
Then—again at the suggestion of Hayley—I applied for the Blog Editor position. Being gifted the opportunity to lead the Blog in the Spring semester, I found myself once more pleased by both the work and the company. From our accomplishments, there can be no dispute that the Spring of 2023 was a golden age for the WRGW Blog. Our content output quadrupled from the previous semester. The news department—dormant for some time—began producing content with regularity. The SA elections coverage, which I worked on closely with our news editor, Rosie Carroll, found a significant audience among the students and distinguished the Blog as a leading campus news outlet.
But more rewarding still was the company. While communication is not always easy and people have schedules outside of the Blog, I count myself lucky to have worked with editors Amita Ganesh, Ashleigh Tobin, Carolina Carmo, and Rosie Carroll. In addition, it was a thrill to welcome three directors to brand new positions: Amelia Magel, Isa Bozarth, and Thea Lawson. This is in addition to my Blog Advisor, Max Cohen, whose eye for detail balanced my lack thereof and continuously helped me check my blind spots.
I could go on, but—suffice it to say—Radio was my community. It was my staff writers, PINDROP friends, and fellow Executive Board members who I most remember meeting on the street between classes and sharing those brief comfortable conversations and smiles. After all, isn’t it those little things that combine to make the greatest impact on one’s memories?
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