When I came to Baruch College in August 2022, I never considered joining The Ticker. I saw it as an organization far beyond my abilities. The fast-paced environment was intimidating. I doubted that my writing wasn’t strong enough for a college newspaper.
These doubts consumed me as a business journalism major, set on a career that no one in my family had ever pursued. I tried convincing myself to pick more “practical” careers instead, something in medicine or STEM, which, according to my relatives, earned you praise and money. But they were fields I knew nothing about.
It wasn’t until my sophomore year that I finally convinced myself journalism was worth pursuing. I took several journalism classes while doing my first internship at my local newspaper, where voxpopping around Staten Island quickly humbled me. I realized then that I truly loved storytelling.
This gave me the confidence to give The Ticker a chance, and I’m so glad I did. After writing two articles for the business section, Judah Duke, the business editor at the time and my political reporting trip classmate, offered me his position for the following school year.
As business editor, I wrote and edited articles that any aspiring business reporter should eventually tackle: a jobs story, earnings reports, IPOs and more. I considered these stories as milestones in building my early career in business journalism.
But as I’d tell my family about my writing, they grew impressed by each piece. They supported me from the beginning, of course, but I didn’t know just how highly they thought of journalism. The reason? Well, it was because no one in my family had ever pursued such a career — my insecurity was flipped on its head instantly.
Joining The Ticker relinquished these doubts completely. For the past two years, I have been surrounded by aspiring journalists, photographers, marketers, finance professionals, lawyers and researchers — all whose passion for writing and storytelling brought them to The Ticker as a stepping stone to their careers.
I am forever grateful for all that our masthead has taught me — from editing tips for a story to occasional life advice that we somehow need during Thursday layout nights. I will truly miss every person I have worked with here.
I’d like to give a special shoutout to a few people.
For the past two years, I have been proud to call Emma Delahanty my friend and an ambitious reporter, who I’m positive will stand out in the vast pool of Ticker alumni. Her time as business editor was marked by stories on Curtis Sliwa’s visit to Baruch, several breaking news and investigative pieces and a strong opinion piece about Gen Z involvement in journalism. Be sure to keep an eye out for her name in the coming years.
Additionally, Justina Dodani’s brief time here made her a loved and trusted person of The Ticker.
Everyone knows her as the treasurer who manages expenses and organizes events, which, I must say, aren’t easy tasks.
But Justina goes beyond the role of treasurer and spreads word about us to classmates and professors and takes great interest in what The Ticker writes.
Finally, there’s Zoe Del Percio-Evans, my successor for Managing Editor. Zoe is an outstanding reporter everyone should familiarize themselves with, as she will write for every issue, sometimes for multiple sections at once.
When you get the chance, don’t forget to congratulate Zoe and The Ticker’s next Editor-In-Chief Karizma Jernigan for their new and well-deserved roles.
I am forever grateful to The Ticker for proving to me that journalism is a worthy career, and for meeting people who have taught me more than I could have imagined.
