Growing up, “journalist” was one of the many jobs I pitched for my future to my parents. Unlike a shoe shop owner or taxicab driver, I was serious about this one and I was no longer seven years old. When I was 14, I researched what colleges I could attend, how to get internships at news stations, and began tracking current events, hoping that one day I could be like the journalists who changed and helped lives. However, being a dyslexic journalist was going to be an uphill battle and my parents told me that. After watching my high school newspaper be born and die in the same semester and letting self-doubt about my skills eat away at me, I resigned my dream of being a journalist and threw it aside.
When I came to Platteville, I did not know much about the Exponent. Then again, I did not know much about anything because it was Fall 2020, peak COVID college. Nothing was as it should have been. Bands performed without fans, theatres had no audience, and I was sitting in my room, bored and reading. It was not until the next year, when I became an RA and worked the Wednesday desk shift, that I learned about the Exponent, as that is when they deliver the paper. I told myself I would join, and it would be fun, but working at the newspaper got pushed onto the pile of passions and interests I would pursue “if only I had time.” Time I would eventually find.
In hindsight, it is a little silly that it took until my last spring semester on campus to join the Exponent. I was constantly in Dr. Pip Gordon’s office, the former advisor, working on projects or getting feedback on my writing. Because of that, I met everyone who worked at the newspaper. The former Editor-in-Chief, John Rodwell, made a big effort to recruit me every time we crossed paths. He eventually gave up right after I slammed Dr. Gordon’s office door in his face. In my defense, he was the seventh Exponent person to interrupt my independent study that day “needing” to talk to Dr. Gordon. There were no hard feelings though. The Exponent’s interruptions of my independent studies did not stop after Dr. Gordon left either, because I spent just as much time in Dr. David Gillota’s office, who took over as advisor.
Funnily enough, it was that independent study with Dr. Gillota that finally got me involved with the Exponent. My project was on horror movies and came right before a teaching class, which meant I often entered wanting to talk about films instead of teaching methods. It just so happened I got paired with Kaz Bresnan, the now-retired Editor-in-Chief, who listened patiently and offered to “help” with my class. That “help” turned into watching movies at his place, talking about horror films, and hosting binge sessions while he worked on Exponent things and talked about Exponent things. And it was about the fourth time he complained about not having a social media manager for the next year that I finally offered to help. I had run social media for other clubs and was stepping back from other projects for my senior year. Plus, I was anticipating a lot of free time, and I thought it would be an effective way to stay involved on campus. Funny, in hindsight that it did the opposite.
The job of social media manager was to post on Instagram and Facebook, as well as update the website. Kaz told me I did not need to write much, given how busy I was outside the Exponent. That was kind of him, but I took it as a challenge. I knew I needed to write, and should write, as someone who was working at a newspaper. More importantly, I knew I needed to get better at writing. This was a wonderful opportunity to write about real events, get consistent feedback and grow, not just as a writer, but as a person.
Since joining the Exponent, I have averaged five to eight articles a week and practically lived in the office, as if I had been there since my first year. I have researched, read and written about countless issues. I have derailed staff meetings with my excitement about classes or things I discovered. I have built friendships with people who have taught me so much. I gained a new appreciation for music from Gabe Farr and Ethan Pulvermacher. I learned about scientific development and animal science thanks to Nat Poeschel. And I would like to say I learned a lot from the graphics team, but I mostly just tortured Ella Madsen, Zach Hammel and our former designer, Abigail Shimniok, with wild articles and graphic requests.
I have had a wonderful time, and I am forever grateful for the opportunity. Because of the Exponent, I have grown as a writer. Because of the Exponent, I know more about the world. But most importantly, because of the Exponent, I got to live out a dream I had long before I talked myself out of it. I have gained so many skills I will carry into my future as a teacher, someone who wants to inspire a love of writing and learning in their students. It is bittersweet to think about how much this newspaper has changed my life and how much more it might have, had I joined sooner. A part of me still wonders what would have happened if I would join soon and listen to the people around me, instead of slamming the door in John’s face all those years ago.