Finding purpose in the unexpected, or how The Ticker cult lured me in
I never wanted to be an editor.
When I joined The Ticker three semesters ago, I wanted to write. Nothing more, nothing less. I was a journalism major transferring from a school with no student press, so I was eager to do so.
I started out by churning out album reviews and covering occasional events at the Mishkin Gallery, which I really got a kick out of. It allowed me to interact with art and the people who create and engage with said art in a transformative way I hadn’t experienced before.
The following semester, Judah Duke, the arts editor-turned-business-editor extraordinaire, asked me to take the reins. After a few trial runs of tweaking articles and fetching topics, it didn’t take long for me to come around to this editing thing. There was something therapeutic and freeing about polishing a piece and tightening the ends to make sure authenticity shines through — it’s like entering a flow state free from ego and subjectivity.
Of course, some moments challenged my discernment and abilities. It’s tough to balance a job, classwork and an internship.
It was incredibly tempting to sleep through my morning classes after a night of editing. It was a struggle to spend my evenings fiddling around with InDesign to fix formatting issues. It pained me to cut paragraphs because it was straying away from the main point, not adding new information or simply not working.
Sometimes it was straight up inconvenient to take on the stories no one signed up to cover, but someone had to do it, and I’d do it over and over again in a heartbeat.
During my Ticker tenure, I’ve looked over more than 100 articles and written around 40 (which is hard for me to wrap my head around). I’ve since branched beyond the arts beat and covered everything from local eateries to PSC-CUNY’s ongoing struggle to secure a fair contract.
I’ve had the pleasure of working with crazy talented writers who put my skills to shame. Under my supervision, the arts section was filled with awesomely eclectic stories ranging from profiles on upcycling fashion designers, a Brooklyn theater fundraising for Palestinian communities and reviews for jazz-funk albums and samurai JRPGs among many, many others. Most of these amazing ideas were pitched to me, and I’m glad they were.
I’m still not sick of the editorial grind, and I don’t think I ever will be. I hope to land a similar gig in the future.
Not only did my time at The Ticker provide a platform to hone my journalism skills, but it also gave me a sense of community (it’s cheesy, but it’s true).
Before I joined, I was a total hermit. I could go the whole day without talking to anybody and scurried straight home after class. I’m now going to miss trekking to the media suite during my downtime — doodling on the whiteboard, catching up with peers and simply sitting and soaking up the vibrancy of the room.
I’m extremely grateful for the guidance and goofy banter my predecessor-turned-friend provided, for I’d be ultra incompetent and dull without it. Thank you to Sarah for boosting my spirits with coffee runs and letting me practice my botched Mandarin, Jahlil for always lending a hand at the last minute — and Adelina for fiery conversations on weird cinema and queer art.
No matter how many times I go back and review what I or someone else wrote, it’s impossible to catch all the errors on my own. Without Copy Chief Dua and copy editors Caspar, Jahlil, Juumane and Alexsa, the section would be in shambles. Also, shoutout to whoever edited this letter and caught all the stupid mistakes.
I typically end my articles with a “look to the future,” so I’ll use that trick here. I’m sure everyone who is or has been part of The Ticker will go on to achieve great things and make their mark in their respective corners of the world.
Ciao!
