Jordyn Hronec, Editor-in-Chief:

After my first layout night as Editor-in-Chief for our first issue in fall 2020, I returned to my apartment at 11 p.m., and I cried. 

I sobbed for two hours straight until 1 a.m.

This was because, on my first night as the Boss, things had gone awry. I wasn’t as prepared as I wanted to be. Staff members had questions that I didn’t have the answer to. The weight and overwhelming pressure of keeping the newspaper afloat during a global pandemic while keeping my staff safe and healthy was bearing down on me. I felt like a failure because things hadn’t gone as smoothly as I wanted them to, as I had dreamed they would go. 

And so I cried about it. And I talked to my therapist about it. But I kept going. 

As the weeks went by, I felt myself improving in my leadership skills and felt my staff improving in their writing and editing skills. I felt my confidence growing, and the weeks flew by like nothing. 

And now here we are. My last ever issue of The Globe. It has all gone by in an instant, and yet, it has felt like forever. 

When I look back on my time at The Globe, I remember my time as a copy editor and staff writer, when I was desperate to improve and wanted nothing more than to live up to the talent and the prowess exhibited by the upperclassmen. I remember my time as a news section editor, working until 3 a.m. in The Globe office and then walking home to my Thayer Hall dorm through the dark and silent city. When I was on the news desk, I worked harder than I had ever worked before, often producing several news stories a week.

I remember being Editor-Elect and the strange and scary ending that ended the year.

I didn’t necessarily want to be remembered as the pandemic editor, but we don’t always get to choose our places in history. Besides, being remembered as the editor who didn’t skip a beat in keeping The Globe alive and well during a global pandemic is not the worst reputation to have. In fact, I think it’s pretty good. I have learned recently that it is good to recognize the accomplishment of not giving up, but it is also okay to feel sad and mourn what could have been this past year.

It has been an amazing ride here at The Globe. I love this little newspaper and its interesting and colorful cast of characters. And I don’t know how to even describe how much I will miss it. But I do want to say this: thanks for being here. 

Keep on rockin’ in the somewhat free world.

Shannon Hartnett, Co-Opinions Editor:

The year is 2018, and I am sitting in the library studying. I see a woman walking with her arms full of copies of newspapers. I approached her and asked how I could get involved with making that newspaper. She replied that I could be a copy editor, and thus I started working for The Globe.

I remember walking into The Globe office for the first time and feeling small. Partially due to my height, but mostly because of my nerves and anxiety. I didn’t talk much, and I did my work without complaint or comment. I knew I was important to the paper because copy editors are essential, but I didn’t feel that way. 

Here I am in 2021, and I no longer feel small. I speak up when I have thoughts, and I ask questions when I am unsure. I am ready and prepared to seek out opportunities in the real world. The looming real world has been talked about since day one of freshman year, and here it comes in full swing toward me. 

My experience at The Globe has helped to shape me into the professional that I am today. The skills I have learned in my time here are priceless in the grand scheme of the professional world. I encourage you readers to be involved with The Globe. Join the staff, become an editor, take photos, become supportive readers, buy an advertisement in the paper. Through community and dedication, The Globe will continue to bring you news just as you need it. 

Nardos Haile, Co-News Editor:

Well, Class of 2021, we made it. We have been through so much within the last year, and it’s taken blood, sweat and a lot of mental breakdowns to come to this very uneventful moment in time. Yay, we’re graduating over Zoom! Note the obvious sarcasm. 

I guess I’m quite bitter about the way this is ending. We’re still in a pandemic, there’s been a mass shooting every day in the U.S. and it seems like the doom and gloom of the world has seeped into our everyday life as college students. Anyone who thinks we aren’t struggling or haven’t struggled through the last year is lying.

We’re supposedly a generation of advocates. We take on the weight and burden on our shoulders and see it as our fight. The sense of justice we all have has been present in every aspect of our lives this year. This generation of student journalists is hungry to expose injustice like every generation before, but I feel like we are the only ones who have seen the modern-day effects of the erosion of the image that we called “America.”

This is just the start of a long journey into adulthood. I’ll admit it kinda sucks knowing we’ll always be the ones to expose the hard truths of the inequalities in this world and just forced to sit back and stay silent after the job’s all done. I think that is one of the things I’ve struggled with during my four years here at Point Park. 

Finding my voice has been a journey. It hasn’t been easy to navigate through the complexities of being a college student, Black woman and a Black journalist all at once, but I’ve come to a place where I’ve found strength in my convictions. And working at The Globe has really pushed me out of my comfort zone into a full-fledged journalist. While the doom and gloom will always be there, I’m glad I had a group of people like my fellow co-workers to commiserate with alongside reporting on such important issues affecting our community in Pittsburgh and in the nation. I’ll always cherish that.

Sarah Gibson, Mascot Correspondent

Here’s some advice, from my time at The Globe:

When you’re working in journalism, some people are going to respect you based on your capacity for labor instead of the labor itself. This is very common among young journalists. I love The Globe, but if you ever feel like you need to reach a work quota to feel valued, stop. You are going to run yourself ragged, and it will affect your physical health in the end. The Globe is only fun when you know you can handle it. Don’t feel obligated to commit at your own expense. The Globe is great, but you will always be more important. 

Secondly, The Globe isn’t great because it’s The Globe. It’s great because of the people in it. When the leadership is bad, you know. And to an extent, it applies to everyone. You cannot be a family when one member does not accept or actively condemns the simple existence of other members. You have to treat each other with kindness. 

I watched “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” the other day. I’ve seen it a bunch of times before, but the phrase “Life comes at you fast” stuck with me this time. I spent three years doing what I thought other people wanted me to do because I thought it would make me liked. It’s basic advice, but don’t invest yourself in something that isn’t actively making your thoughts race. Even though Mascots started as a joke, the things that make up my column have many a time been the subject of fun introductory conversations with strangers and long 3 a.m. talks with my boyfriend. 

All in all, The Globe is a garden. You get out of it what you all collectively give. I’m just very lucky to have been given some great partners.