By Lila Miller, Editor in Chief
chief.inkwell@gmail.com
As I survey the Inkwell staff’s office on our last night of production, I can’t help but ruminate on the scene and what a trying semester it has been, for our staff, as well as the students, faculty and even the administration.
The layout editor sighs as he works, moving images and text, aesthetically testing what works and what doesn’t. He notices my furrowed brow and laughs, taunting, “Bye Felicia!”
Rice Cooker, the office cat, hops onto the copy editor’s desk. The clock reads 8:18 p.m. Underneath the clock, the editor idly taps his hand in time to the classical music emanating from his headphones. Most of his work is usually done by this time, but as breaking stories come in, he sticks around to be sure he can still copy-edit on the fly.
The sports editor relaxes for a brief moment. I ask, “You alright? Do you need something to do?”
“No. All of my finals are not cumulative, for once.” The arts and entertainment editor interjects,
“I have like fifty assignments due this week.”
The news editor, sardonic as ever, contemplates which news article should be the top story for the week. We discuss rumors of GSU financial aid fraud, to strategic planning committee meetings, gauging journalist ethics along the way.
The steadfast social media coordinator/web editor and photo editor are out of the office, asking students a random question each week for our “Campus Voices” section of the paper. This week’s question? “What is the most desperate thing you’ve done during finals?”
I imagine frustration, anxiety and uncertainty loom at the front of their minds, under the impending intense scrutiny of professors. They are not alone. As graduation approaches in merely a week, I find myself cycling through similar emotions. It’s been a rough college career for me. With physical and mental health issues chronically plaguing me, I often wondered if I would ever truly switch the white tassel to the other side of that black graduation cap. Yet now, as I look to the right, the package containing my cap and gown waits to be unwrapped.
I owe a lot of my dogged persistence to the Inkwell. While I am by no means a Grateful Dead fan, the phrase “what a long, strange trip its been” intrudes on my thoughts repeatedly until I’m forced to type it out here.
I started out at the Inkwell as a staff writer in 2014. I wrote many articles, staying consistent and reliable. In the fall of 2015, I was promoted to the arts and entertainment section editor and remained until the end of 2017. Since then, I have spent my last semester here at Armstrong as the top tier editor-in-chief managing the staff and making sure the paper got into the stands week after week, among many other responsibilities. And now, I sit at my desk for the last time feeling nostalgic, but also content. I am happy to welcome Daniel Hayes, the previous news editor, as the new editor-in-chief for the George-Anne Inkwell Edition in the Fall of 2018. The plan so far is that our paper will remain it’s own entity, preserving the culture and identity that is now the Armstrong campus of GSU and was Armstrong State University.
As for myself? My future is uncertain, as per usual, it seems. If I could nail down concrete plans right now, so far, I plan on spending the summer writing poetry and short prose for my first book. I’d also like to find some freelance writing jobs while I work for a private nursery tending plants and listening to the instrumental band Explosions in the Sky. I’d also like to give special thanks to the Inkwell advisor Dr. Morris, counselor Jeannie McGowan, advisor Dr. Robert Terry, and professors Dr. Smith and Dr. Mendenhall. While I plan on staying in Savannah in the interim, I’ll be around. Until then, so long Armstrong. Stay strong.
