I wrote my first article for The Cordโs November 2, 2016 issue. I applied on a whim, and my first-year self was absolutely terrified when I walked down the basement stairs of 205 Regina to sign my volunteer forms. Little did I know, I would end up spending the next five-plus years of my life with a newspaper that Iโve grown to love so dearly.
Itโs difficult to summarize my time with The Cord with any sort of concision or poetic eloquence. Iโve dedicated so much of myself to this little paper that itโs going to be a Taylor Swift-worthy break-up ballad when I pass this torch along to our incoming Editor-in-Chief Yasmeen in less than a day.
Having done this job for two separate terms now, I can safely say that nothing else will ever compare to it. I never thought Iโd be in a position where I would repeatedly blast the โMonster Mashโ at midnight while making our Halloween issue, argue with my staff about which drag queen photo was the best one to put on cover, cry in the bathroom because InDesign crashed for the umpteenth time in one night, or see the Rocky Mountains during a trip for a journalism conference.ย
While itโs certainly challenged me in more ways than I can count, The Cord helped me discover what Iโm genuinely passionate about and itโs introduced me to some of my favourite people I know Iโll ever meet. Through all of our weird traditions and rituals, inside jokes, and endless late nights, I wouldnโt trade this experience for anything.
If there’s anything to learn from this overly-sentimental reflection, it’s to take a chance on things, even if you don’t know what the outcome will be.
I want to sincerely thank every person who has made me feel like I truly belong here. And to the next team of CordiesโI hope you have as much fun with this paper as I did.
When The Cord turns 100 and WLUSP inevitably throws a wild party to celebrate, Iโll be there with all of the other countless people this beloved paper has touched in some way.
Iโm not great with goodbyes, so Iโll end it here with some words from The Cordโs first-ever 1926 staff that sums up why I will always hold this publication so close to my heart:
โYou have in your hands today, the College Cordโa printed College paper at last. A dream has been realized, a desire fulfilled, and another chapter of achievement added to the story of Waterloo College. In it shall we find the record of our common hopes, our common joys, our common sorrowsโit shall be a common โCordโ of sympathy. โThe College Cordโ shall be a โtie that binds.โ And we are viewing today the birth of a College year as well as the birth of a College paper. They lie before us with all their unbounded possibilities hidden in the glamour of the unknown. What they shall be depends entirely upon us. The challenge of our future rings in our ears.โย
In it shall we find the record of our common hopes, our common joys, our common sorrowsโit shall be a common โCordโ of sympathy. โThe College Cordโ shall be a โtie that binds.โ
The Cord, 1926
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