As an incoming first-year student, I knew I wanted to be a journalism major, as my academic strengths have always been in writing, editing and reading. What I didn’t know was that I would be required to write for Lehigh University’s student-run publication, The Brown & White, for four semesters.
The first semester I registered to be a staff reporter was in the spring of my first year, and I was thrown into the deep end.
My first assignment after being evaluated and placed on the sports beat was to watch a live-streamed men’s basketball game against Rutgers University and write a “gamer,” or a play-by-play story. It had to be completed within an hour or two after the game’s conclusion and had to include three interviews. This would have been intimidating even if I attended the game in person and was able to ask questions to people around me, but, with the COVID-19 restrictions still in place in January 2021, no student reporters were allowed at university sporting events. Plus, I’m not even a basketball fan nor did I know the sporty jargon used in other sports articles. I felt I was in over my head.
Luckily, I had a very supportive editor and deputy editor who connected me with a staff member physically at the game who would be able to not only answer my questions and be a source but would speak to certain well-performing players after the game and ask them questions on my behalf, too.
The article was completed, and while it may not have been my best work and required significant editing by the managing editors, seeing my byline for the first time on a printed story was a feeling that still has not gotten old, four semesters and more than 20 published pieces later.
Since then, I have served as associate audience editor and reported bi-weekly story engagement statistics on the online posts to the entire reporting staff, and as the deputy sports editor, working alongside the sports editor and editor-in-chief in proposing, assigning and editing articles for more than 10 reporters and associates.
Being a deputy editor was my favorite Brown & White experience, and I would recommend working in a position of administration to any reporter who finds pleasure in organizing, delegating and the periodic chasing down of a reporter who did not appropriately attribute information or a quote in a story.
My final semester as a reporter is coming to an end, along with my college career. I find myself reflecting back on my time at Lehigh very frequently. Each time, I wind up ruminating on how important being a writer for our school-run newspaper and website has been to me and how much I’ll cherish the memories, connections, skills and confidence I’ve gained since that January night I was sweating it out in front of a Lehigh vs. Rutgers live stream on my laptop.