Writing for The UCSD Guardian was without a doubt the most meaningful thing I did during my college experience. Through my investigations into topics affecting students, I learned about the journalistic metaphor of “gathering string,” or the process of connecting seemingly unrelated ideas to find a substantive story where no one would expect there to be one.
As a writer, and then as Features Editor, I spent my undergraduate career doing just that: I gathered ideas, combined them into something bigger, and looked for substance in the most unlikely of places. I found myself writing about weirdly niche topics such as Spotify’s algorithm or the commodification of self- care, and ultimately realized that there can be a story in anything — should I try to look for it. Perhaps more so than any class I’ve taken, my time at The Guardian taught me to never stop asking questions.
I remember joining the Features section as a freshman without any journalism experience. I was shocked and excited to hear that the campus newspaper somehow accepted me, and decided to use the opportunity to explore different perspectives and experiment across different sections. I never anticipated that I would find my niche here or that the people at The Guardian would become some of my closest friends.
My fellow editors and writers are among the most intelligent, thoughtful, and hardworking people I’ve ever met. Throughout college, they supported me through the roughest of times and helped me learn from my mistakes. I’m honored to have worked with them. They hugely impacted my life for the better.
To my Features writers — and to Nelson, especially — I’m proud of you. Writing long-form, investigative articles is no small feat, especially when you have to work through millions of comments on the Google Doc. But as one of my favorite writers — I bet you all know who —says, it’s an honor to be edited hard. You have all grown so much during your time here and I can’t wait to read your future articles.
I’m honored to have been part of this newspaper. Thank you all for everything.
Art by Angela Liang for the UCSD Guardian.
