It started with a girl and her laptop, staying up past the normal bedtime for a teenage girl just so she could write – whether that be her feelings, stories or notes to herself, she was always writing.
That girl who loves to write is me and I always knew from a young age that I wanted to become a storyteller. I only needed the platform to reach this early-developed dream and that’s when I stumbled upon the Setonian.
Every freshman college student is urged to join extracurriculars so we can socialize with peers and participate in something we love and believe in wholeheartedly. With this advice, I took my anxiety-ridden self to my first involvement fair where I was welcomed by like-minded people who also had a niche for storytelling.
I started off as a staff writer, covering stories about campus life and learning about the core of the University – the students. From writing about student fashion to spotlighting clubs around campus, I started to fall in love with informing the Seton Hall community about the unknown.
Hard work only leads to better results which proved true when I was promoted from staff writer to the Campus Life copy editor. Although it wasn’t a role with a multitude of responsibilities, I performed my job as if Bob Woodward himself was evaluating me – no AP style mistakes would get past me.
Finally, in 2022, I became the head editor for the Campus Life section of the newspaper. This is where imposter syndrome was at full capacity but I still persevered. This motivation allowed me to understand how capable and passionate I truly am about identifying as a journalist. This position granted me the ability to learn from others, strengthen my editing skills and solidify my choice of becoming a future, real-world journalist.
Now here I am, in 2024, currently the managing editor of the Setonian. Not only have I managed to climb the chain of command to the top, but I’m also able to be a part of this community during the most historical moment for the paper – its 100th year anniversary. It is crazy to think about how this student-ran newspaper has grown in the past century covering Seton Hall news.
Here I am, in the middle of one of the paper’s biggest celebrations that I had the honor of planning and executing with the help of my wonderful peers, faculty and administration. Of course when the 100th anniversary celebration was mentioned, I immediately assumed the lead role in event planning. I’m a public relations practitioner at heart as well – shoutout to all the students who are double majoring.
The proverb “it takes a village to raise a child,” although the newspaper is not a physical baby, rings true as I look back at the last 100 years of the Setonian. It took thousands of creative and truth-telling minds to build this newspaper from the ground up and I couldn’t be more thankful to have been a part of this well-reported village. A special thanks to the entire e-board staff and our editor-in-chief, Emma Thumann, for making this celebration one to remember as I graduate and head off into the world of adulthood and, unfortunately, bills.
Suddenly, that little girl’s dream became reality, telling stories through her words – proving to her that nothing is impossible. Thank you to the Setonian for allowing the inner child in me to thrive for its 100th anniversary.
Serena is the Setonian’s managing editor and a writer for its Campus Life section. She can be reached at serena.davis@student.shu.edu.
