In April 2020, I got an opportunity that never would’ve happened if the world weren’t devasted by COVID-19.
It was about a month after we’d been sent home for the rest of spring semester my freshman year. Along with plenty of other college students, I withered during that time. I barely did any schoolwork, usually went to sleep around 5 a.m. and woke up around 2 p.m. on a normal basis.
It was gross, a feeling that I didn’t handle well.
I was struggling to fall asleep one night/morning around 6 a.m. when I was looking at UMass’ potential draftees; the NFL Draft was a little over a week away. For background, I covered swim and dive and partially baseball for my freshman year. I was low on the Collegian totem pole and nowhere around those popular sports.
I noticed nobody wrote a story about Isaiah Rodgers, who had a shot of getting drafted. I asked my sports editor at the time, Tom Haines, and he had no problem allowing me to write that story. I DM’d Rodgers on Instagram, and to my disbelief, it actually worked.
The story became everything for me. I sat in my basement for dozens of hours, conducting zoom and phone interviews and researching, so it’d be a halfway decent story. For the standards of a freshman with less than 40 clips to my name, I was honestly happy with the way it came out. But that wasn’t why this story was so important for me.
It gave me purpose in a time where it felt extremely difficult for anything to feel useful. I was so lazy and unmotivated before that, and it gave me something I could work for and look forward to. It also skyrocketed my confidence. I became an assistant sports editor the next year, and that experience made me sure of myself when I was helping and editing for those who followed me.
What also helped me get there was help from Tom, along with Amin Touri, the editor-in-chief during my freshman year. I was very curious, and any time I had an annoying question or wanted to bug them about something, they always were there, and I forever appreciate them both for giving me their time throughout the years.
Touri drove an hour out of his way to sit down and talk with me for three hours, and whenever I’m stressed out about the Collegian, he’s one of the first people I’ll reach out to because he always tells me what I need to hear. Basically, all my beginner journalism skills are credited to those two. I still look up to them as journalism “big brothers.”
During my sophomore and junior year as an assistant editor, all I wanted to do with my life was write and edit stories for the sports section. My sophomore year I was entirely at home, and writing and editing stories passed the time in a way that made me feel somewhat fulfilled during the long hours sitting at home with nowhere to go.
I never actually considered running for editor-in-chief or managing editor until around February of my junior year. And when I started thinking about it, it was a no-brainer. This place had such an impact on my life that I owed it to everyone who came before me, and will come after me, to put everything into helping the newspaper in any way I could.
I couldn’t have asked for a better team to do it with, starting with my partner in crime Saliha Bayrak. She was the perfect editor-in-chief, and the way we immediately connected made my job a little less stressful. The way we transition from serious Collegian conversations into underrated movies is something I’ll seriously miss. Not only was Saliha composed in the most stressful times of the year, but she was also a blast of positive energy whenever I needed it.
I’ve changed a lot during my four years in college, and there might be no bigger reason than the Collegian and the people I’ve grown with over the past few years. Lulu Kesin is a perfect example; she gave me reassurance and confidence in myself whenever I needed it. She brought a perspective and an energy that the sports section – and me – desperately needed. I met Lulu my sophomore year, and her passion and energy was obvious from the jump.
I’m forever indebted to this place and to all the people who made my college experience. The Collegian took up so much of my time, energy and passion in college. This newspaper gave me purpose, and I hope the people after me feel that way too.
Joey Aliberti was the managing editor. He can be reached at [email protected].
