In the past two years, I've been called everything from an idiot to Rush Limbaugh to, perhaps most offensive of all, a Nickleback sympathizer. Fellow students, (former) friends and even complete strangers have excoriated me in print, message boards and personal emails, all because of a 450-500 word review of a CD.
While it pleases me to see that people are still passionate enough about music to defend a band from a negative review, some of the personal threats I've accrued have been disconcerting. For example, on a Coheed and Cambria message board, one courageous fan declared, "If I found this guy walking down a dark alley alone I'd bash his face in."
In retrospect all the criticism has been worth it, because my weekly column afforded me the opportunity to become editor of Pirate Life. Although the position has been a time-consuming, daily commitment since summer, I have grown more and more willing to prioritize the paper and website over all other responsibilities: I am so proud of our content, and so grateful for our writers, that I want each issue to improve on the former.
Such improvement has only been possible because of my amazing co-workers, Pirate Life's assistant editor Erin Bell and copy editor Alyana Alfaro. Erin and Alyana are two of the most down-to-earth, creative and enthusiastic people I have met at Seton Hall, and I am confident that Pirate Life will be in great hands with them at the reigns.
Also, I am forever indebted to Caitlin Cunningham for her incredible graphic designs, which brought some of my obscure ideas to paper. She has been nothing short of awesome.
But the entire Setonian e-board has made this year so enjoyable; our exercises in staff bonding and adventures at the New York City journalism conference are some of my most cherished college memories. Even the Wednesday nights when we would produce the paper, as excruciatingly late as some of those nights were, often seemed more like play than work -- just see some of our Facebook statuses those nights for further confirmation.
After 28 long production nights, we have grown to be something like my own family: loud, constantly joking and, although occasionally dysfunctional, always wishing nothing but the best for one another. And, now that it is over, I would take another scrapbook full of hate mail just for another week with everyone.
But like all good things, my four years at The Setonian have come to an end. It has been an honor to work alongside our talented staff and to be a part of such a prestigious product. Best of luck to all, and Hazard Zet Forward.
Kevin Stevens is a senior English major from Lyndhurst, N.J. He can be reached at kevin.stevens@student.shu.edu.
