Written by Joyelle Ronan
By my second semester, sophomore year at Roanoke College, I still hadn’t found my place. Some clubs I joined were great, but just not for me. Other organizations were… Well, I’ll leave the story of getting informally kicked out of the Harry Potter club for another time. I was starting to wonder if I would ever fit into one of the more than 100 clubs and organizations, 27 varsity and club teams, 8 fraternities and sororities, or 5 religious groups. Would I be left to wander around campus as a social outcast?
Obviously not, I am just being dramatic. Considering you are reading this article in the Brackety-Ack, you may anticipate where this story is heading.
I was sitting in Commons when the girl next to me was approached by none other than Brice Hall. I knew of Brice from 1) a play he did freshman year and 2) the time he complimented my favorite white boots when I passed him in a hallway. Brice was the editor of the opinions page of the Brackety-Ack and was unsuccessfully attempting to recruit this girl to write for his page. I told him that I was also a writer, although I never had any formal journalism experience.
Shortly after, I wrote my first article entitled Time for a Trip: Gas is Cheap and the Road is Long! I continued to write for the BA and took over as social media coordinator, and then became Culture and Wellness editor.
During my time with the BA, I wrote a total of 50 articles. Some were about topics I really care about like mental health awareness or diversity. Others discussed movies, television, theatre, and books. I introduced monthly horoscopes, word searches and scrambles. I even wrote an entire article just expressing my love for Timothee Chalamet. And honestly, I stand by that decision.
While it is true that the BA staff shares the common goal of putting out a newspaper every week, I’d like to think we’ve grown beyond that and have become a little family. I’ve had the opportunity to grow even closer with Kaelyn and watch her blossom into the most amazing E.I.C, get to know Zach, meet Devon and Alexis, and say I knew Charissa and Sarah before they both became famous in the literature world. And of course we could do it without our amazing writers.
That day in Commons, I could have never anticipated what the Brackety-Ack would eventually mean to me. I had no way of knowing that moment would lead to me making some of my greatest friends or getting the experience I needed to land a dream internship. The Brackety-Ack has had such a profound impact on my time at Roanoke College and it is a big part of why it is now so hard for me to say goodbye.
As cheesy as it sounds, it must be said: Dear old Roanoke really has served me well.
