The Collegian

Issue date: 5/12/09 Section: Opinion

So I was trying to think of a story idea at last week's Collegian meeting, the last meeting of the semester and the last meeting of my entire Collegian career. Thinking out loud, I said, "Should I write about Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter, or should I write about myself?" For the record, I'm happy about Specter's switch from the Republican to the Democratic party. But all of you are busy studying for finals, you don't want to read anymore about that, and that is what my fellow writers thought too. So I'll spend the rest of this article writing a goodbye message to Saint Mary's. I am fortunate to have some graduation plans, as I have entered the Ph.D. program in political science at UC Santa Barbara, but I will miss Saint Mary's College, this place that has changed my life and given me so many opportunities. My work as president of the Democratic Club, my service on academic committees, and the religious studies minor that I have added to my politics major are just a few of the things I am proud of participating in at Saint Mary's.

I decided at the beginning of my time here to constantly find new things to try. So, at the end of my junior year, I decided to drop Student Senate and join The Collegian for my final year. The Collegian is a great place to let people know what you think about local, national and world issues, and to learn how to give people information about interesting events that have happened at Saint Mary's, whether they are guest speakers, cultural events, college policy changes, or sports news. More students definitely should join The Collegian because there is always more to write about. From the comments I have gotten on some of my articles, I feel that even though I have only written for The Collegian for one year, it has been among the activities on which I have had the biggest impact on the College. I probably should have started earlier, but everyone grows in different ways, and maybe I was not really ready for it until this year.

Although I started out in this opinion section, I quickly began writing for news. Most of my articles have involved politics, some have dealt with religious and other academic events here, and a few have even been about music.

I have had to work to become a wiser member of the world of journalism. I have learned that writing inspirational short phrases that will catch people's interest is not one of my strong points. But with all of the fun things I have been involved in, and through the feedback of all my friends and professors, I have learned the skills that I am great at.

My one recommendation to everyone is to periodically get involved in something new and unexpected. For example, my work as president of the Democratic Club has allowed me to learn about how to organize students to join the world of politics, and how political campaigns are run. My service on the CCTF and Seminar Board has given me insight about how the College is run, and more students could understand the huge amount of work that goes into running this College if they had an interest in serving on such committees. I can think of even more things that I have not done but probably should have done. For me personally, life is about getting lots of different experiences.

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