Being co-editor of the Augustana Observer has taught me so much, primarily that most Augie students don’t care about anything besides themselves, Greek events, alcohol and (usually around week 10) their grades.
Though I’m mostly kidding, one issue I’ve always had with most of the student body is their apathy for taking real issues to heart.
That is one of the major reasons I switched my major to Women’s and Gender Studies and why I majored in Multimedia Journalism and Mass Communication.
I don’t think in order to be an educated and engaged citizen everyone should have to major in Women’s and Gender Studies. Though it would certainly help, and if we do have learning perspectives I think one of them should be to force every student to take at least one Women’s and Gender Studies class.
I expect that to added to the next edition of the 2020 plan.
Also to be included in that plan: how about one professor who teaches nothing but Women’s and Gender Studies?
No matter what majors students have, most of the student body simply doesn’t care about current events, systemic oppression or the world outside of the famed “Augie bubble.”
I hope the stories I wrote helped keep students informed at least about the happenings inside and occasionally outside the bubble, including when the stories may have been controversial (see an article I wrote last year with a very similar title).
I’d like to thank all of the amazing people who got me where I am today.
Jared, thank you for providing me with an amazing foundation of journalism, for being a pillar of this spectacular MJMC program for two years, for being a sage adviser for the Observer and during my many life crises and for answering my many emails even after you left me to move across the country.
Dr. Yaschur, thank you for serving as another pillar of the MJMC program, for advising me as a reporter, student and future professional journalist and for always being willing to chat about professional and personal matters no matter what time.
Stephanie, thank you for being a trusted adviser, both in my professional career and in the Observer.
You’re probably the only person I know who would help me edit my website for five hours on a Friday night.
Wendy, I’m still not over you taking ten points off my resume in 252, but thank you for always being so supportive in my work as a reporter and as a student in both MJMC and WGS and for being the only dean who would (probably) ever photo-bomb me.
Dr. Nodulman, thank you for being one of the people who sparked my passion for gender issues, especially relating to sexual assault awareness.
Dr. Simonsen, thank you for helping to mold my dissent into a feminist rebellion.
Araceli, thank you for teaching the most important class I took at Augustana.
Dean Campbell, thanks for the football. I’ll never forget.
Eleanor and Ginny, thank you for steering me on the right path all throughout college.
Thank you to all of my friends, who are my rocks, and who I wouldn’t be able to get through a day without.
Thank you to all my brothers in the Rho Nu Delta fraternity supporting me, whether it’s when I write a controversial article or at palace on a Friday or Saturday night. I can’t imagine being at Augie and not being a Roundel.
Mom, Dad and Alex, thank you for always supporting me, even when I decided to become a Women’s and Gender Studies major, and when I decided to make no money as a journalist. Love you!
To the campus as a whole, thank you to those who did not immediately throw the Observer in the recycling bin the second you took it out of your mailbox. I hope I was a worthy source of news for you these past four years.