Thursday, March 28, 2024

Editor's Note: The State News is the guide to find your community

August 28, 2017
rachel-f-mug

On the first day of college, you make a decision. You decide if that semester will be the greatest of your life or the worst. 

I chose the latter.

I spent the majority of my first semester alone. I was always a loner of sorts and found greater happiness in my own company than with that of others, but this reached a new level. 

I found fear if I left my dorm room. And solace only in the classroom. I was not an active participant in my own life. 

I succumbed to a scary conclusion — this is all college can be for me. 

By second semester, through great surprise, I found my place. I found my group.

I still remember the day I was hired at The State News, but if you had told me the opportunities and successes that followed from walking in those doors, I would have scoffed at the idea. 

College puts us through hoops. You will have days of absolute glee. You will have weeks of pure anxiety.

Surround yourself with people who challenge you in every extent of the word. Make friends with students who are inherently kind and stand by your side when it is convenient, but especially when it is not. 

Whether it’s a group of over-caffeinated Pre-Med students, a sorority or a fraternity, student government, young filmmakers, activists or a Jedi Council — Yes, this is a thing — find your community, or at least do yourself a favor and let it find you. 

Find the people who will tell you love does exist, but remember, you’re only 20 years old and he’s definitely an asshole. The ones who will run across Grand River Avenue screaming your name after you make yet another Irish exit. 

The circle who surrounds you and lets you cry on their shoulders when you don’t get the financial aid — and when you do get the scholarship. 

The team who cheers on the sidelines and the warriors who will fight with you in the trenches. The great ones who believe in you so much, they trust you with leading their newsroom.

Here’s to the community that saved me. Here’s hoping you find yours. 

You may find where you belong the first day or three weeks before graduation. The beauty of it? It doesn’t matter. 

You get out of The State News what you put into it.

It’s the mantra we’re told over and over again by our editors, friends and community. But it applies to so much more than just The State News. Throughout your college experience, keep that mindset.

Leave the dorm room. Walk outside. Give college everything you have and I promise it will reward you tenfold. 

In the meantime, The State News will always be here as a listening ear or a conversation starter. We will inform you of the latest news and uncover falsities of massive proportion. We will hold our institution accountable rain or shine, class or cancelled. 

Support student media! Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.

The news business is changing and we are adapting. We are making a commitment to you, the audience.

We are your voice. And if need be, your community. 

Welcome to MSU, the first of many communities you will be a part of throughout college. We are The State News, your guide along the way. Go Green.

This story appears in The State News 2017 Welcome Week Edition. The issue can be found on MSU's campus at various dorms and buildings. To read other Welcome Week stories, click here.

Discussion

Share and discuss “Editor's Note: The State News is the guide to find your community” on social media.