Farewell letter: Grateful for the bonds created at The Ticker

Courtesy+of+Maleeka+Zainab

Courtesy of Maleeka Zainab

Maleeka Zainab, Business Manager

During the fall 2021 semester, I became The Ticker’s advertising director. Just one semester later, I became the business manager. Coming from two years of being remote during the COVID-19 pandemic, I was excited for the in-person activities to resume at Baruch College.

I came to Baruch as a transfer student from City College and was immediately drawn to the club culture. I first heard about the student organization through my friend and The Ticker’s editor-in-chief Amanda Salazar.

The newspaper stands with stacks of Ticker newspapers around the Newman Vertical Campus building always caught my eye. I wanted to join, but unfortunately, due to the pandemic, I didn’t until my senior year.

Now, I will be graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Public Affairs with a minor in political science. My major is focused on public policy, with both technical research skills and local policy.

At The Ticker, my focus was on the business side of the paper. I began by working on advertising, but by my second semester, I enjoyed my time so much and wanted to move up.

As the business manager, I was struck by how much involvement I had with Baruch’s Office of Student Life and outside vendors.

One of my proudest moments was designing and purchasing merchandise for the club. After handling thenewspaper’s 2021-2022 budget of about $120,000,

I am also proud of presenting the 2022-2023 budget to the Board of Directors and getting it passed.

The job isn’t without its challenges, specifically time management.

At times, I struggled to keep up with all the meetings and orders. Yet, the social aspect of the club, the deep friendships I have had the honor of making and the unique experiences I have had all made my time worth it.

Being around colleagues and friends made it so that I never felt alone, and that’s something I will always be grateful for.

I am very proud of my work as an executive board member of The Ticker. I feel strongly that college is a time whenyour social life is just as important as your grades.

I encourage all incoming and current students to get more involved with the paper, to stop by at our tabling and/or the Media Suite and to pick up some sick merch in the process, of course.