This letter represents the view of Old Gold & Black Managing Editor Andrew Braun, not the Old Gold & Black.
Not all of our passions make sense — there are things we can’t explain our fascination with.
At first, I struggled to adjust on campus: the overwhelming number of clubs, classes, and professors all swirling with possibility. It’s enough to disorient and discourage you from ever mastering your interest.
As journalists, we struggle with the same thing. There are so many stories out there. However, we look for a place on our campus or in our community where we see that our passion is alive, changing and affecting other people. We listen in our classes and keep an eye out for where our interest might make a splash. Then we seek out and try to understand the development of new perspectives on them.
The details that we uncover as journalists make our passions relevant to others. If our passion has a positive impact somewhere, our stories celebrate it. By telling a story, you can defend why your own passion should matter to other people, too.
Building these stories connects you with other passionate people. Expert faculty and interested students can help you tell what matters to you, even if indirectly. Better yet, they illuminate and carve a new story out of the old: another opportunity to engage with yourself and your community.
Student journalism lets you tell the story of your passion. When you write a story you have the opportunity to communicate why it matters. When someone reads your story, they don’t expect you to be an expert. They’re trusting you to guide them through an episode in that interest and illustrate why it matters. They are trusting you to translate jargon into something they can relate to.
The Old Gold & Black wants to hear a story about your passion. Across our seven sections, there is always room for a single story on something greater that interests you — no prior experience required. We hope that you will come tell us a story, and show us why it matters.
