A farewell from the Vol. 70 co-Editor-in-Chief
If there is one thing I can trust in, it is that everything will change. Yet again, the winds of change have come and I must let them carry me. Although my time at the Martlet as co-Editor-in-Chief has been brief, the knowledge I’ve acquired will last a lifetime.
I’ve had the pleasure of helping organize the Martlet’s 70th anniversary fundraiser (which is still ongoing) and am truly inspired by its legacy. For 70 years, the Martlet has given voice to the underrepresented, held power to account, and given writers the opportunity to engage in journalism. Now more than ever I think it necessary to sustain these ideals.
Photo by Phillippe Nick
As mainstream media leads us down uncertain paths, it is crucial to trust in your own intuition. “Journalists are natural bullshit detectors,” a wise professor once said to me, and I believe this is an integral part of being a journalist. Unleash your curiosity on the world, but remember there are many truths. Just as the eagle soars in circles above the canopy, so must you remember the bigger picture. Search for all the facts, interview many perspectives, and always trust yourself.
As for the staff and volunteers at the Martlet, I am grateful to have had the opportunity to work with every one of them. All these personalities meld together and are printed bi-monthly in the form of an independent newspaper. Each person inputs different parts of themselves to collectively make a whole. To be a small part of that whole, even for a short time, made me feel included in something bigger than myself. The humans that work and volunteer here are courageous, opinionated, and thoughtful. I wish them grace and strength as the winds of change inevitably come for them too. Write your truth, be kind to others, and treat yourself with mercy.
So now, I bid you all adieu. But I leave you with some of the most profound wisdom I have come across in my young age to remember on your journey forward:
“Simplicity, patience, compassion.
These three are your greatest treasures.
Simple in actions and thoughts,
you return to the source of being.
Patient with both friends and enemies,
you accord with the way things are.
Compassionate toward yourself,
you reconcile all beings in the world.”
-Lao Tzu (Tao de Ching)
