I wrote my first article for The Cord’s 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 I’ve grown to love so dearly.
It’s difficult to summarize my time with The Cord with any sort of concision or poetic eloquence. I’ve dedicated so much of myself to this little paper that it’s 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 I’d be in a position where I would repeatedly blast the “Monster Mash” 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.
While it’s certainly challenged me in more ways than I can count, The Cord helped me discover what I’m genuinely passionate about and it’s introduced me to some of my favourite people I know I’ll ever meet. Through all of our weird traditions and rituals, inside jokes, and endless late nights, I wouldn’t 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 Cordies–I 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, I’ll be there with all of the other countless people this beloved paper has touched in some way.
I’m not great with goodbyes, so I’ll end it here with some words from The Cord’s first-ever 1926 staff that sums up why I will always hold this publication so close to my heart:
“You have in your hands today, the College Cord–a 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 sorrows–it shall be a common “Cord” of sympathy. “The College Cord” shall be a “tie that binds.” 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.”
In it shall we find the record of our common hopes, our common joys, our common sorrows–it shall be a common “Cord” of sympathy. “The College Cord” shall be a “tie that binds.”
The Cord, 1926
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