Like many people in The Ticker, my journey started as a contributing writer in my freshman year. Or maybe when I was 15 and awarded “Best Storyteller” at a week-long summer program.
I was an infrequent writer and remained as a contributing writer until the end of my sophomore year, staying strictly within the Arts & Culture section where I reviewed books, music, TV and movies. I also distributed thousands of newspapers when print production started again, an awkward but conversation-starting role.
In my junior year, I continued the legacy of “Bearcat Creatives”. It was a challenging yet rewarding series of articles that involved finding and contacting talented Baruch students, interviewing them and spinning it into a story. With the positive feedback I received for the series, I quickly became a senior staff writer in the beginning of my junior year.
During that time, I was under the mentorship of a former Ticker Editor-in-Chief Yelena Dzhanova. She urged me to venture outside of my comfort zone.
I started writing for other sections, especially opinions and business, which led me to meet Steve Ells, the founder of Chipotle. I have no doubt that my involvement with The Ticker helped me land my internship with NBCUniversal in my senior year.
Right after I started my internship, I took over as Production Assistant on The Ticker, thanks to Sarah Gabriel and Maya Demchak-Gottlieb. I was finally able to achieve my dream of managing crossword puzzles and sudokus on the back-page. I am aware I have stumped a lot of people with the crossword puzzle clues. My proudest work is the April Fools Tickler edition, where I made a sudoku with letters and a crossword with numbers.
I strongly believe I never had it as hard as my fellow masthead members, especially when I spent my time as production assistant attempting to reduce as much tedious labor as possible. I created Google Sheets formulas that automatically updated sign-ups and tracked writers so I would not have to do it manually. While other masthead members worked from The Ticker suite’s computers, I worked on my own computer to save more time and effort.
With that revelation, I know that writing for The Ticker built more character for me. Outsiders only see the final product, but they do not see the intricate details or setbacks that happen along the way. They do not know of the awful interview that never blossomed into a published article or my first encounter with a public relations firm demanding me to reword a narrative.
More importantly, they do not know of the obstacles in our lives. The articles I wrote during my four years never reflected my mental health, burglary, friendship break-ups, emotional attachments, internet fame, internship and job hunt.
The world has changed since I entered Baruch in the post-pandemic fall 2021 semester. I have seen the significance of artificial intelligence in my classmates’ and professors’ lives. I have been disappointed by the way my classmates treated each other after Oct. 7, 2023.
In this new world, I am glad to be with The Ticker, an outlet free from artificial intelligence and united by a shared goal.
I know I will miss having a place to write about new shows and share puzzles, internships and networking events. I will miss my fellow Ticker colleagues and free lunches even more.
I often think to myself “I just have to get through this week,” only to find myself in Sisyphus’s position at the bottom of the mountain every Monday. Albert Camus says “The struggle itself towards the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.”
I guess Camus was right now that I finally made it to the end. I am happy to announce that my successor will be Andrea Shi, who will hopefully think of even more challenging crossword clues.
