From the Editor-in-Chief
Welcome to The Sandspur. Or, if you’re returning like I am, welcome back.
I spent last semester abroad at Queen Mary University of London (which I swear I haven’t been trying to constantly bring up), and somehow, it’s already September of my senior year at Rollins.
Being back on campus after ten months is weird. I’ve tried to find a better word to describe it, but genuinely it just feels weird. Not only are there new buildings on campus, a new interdisciplinary AI certificate for CLA students, and a new president who just completed her first year at Rollins, but there are also so many new faces around.
As bizarre and busy as these first few weeks have been, I truly have not been more grateful for my time at Rollins. In my last three years as a Rollins student, I have not only learned about Editing Essentials, Formal Logic, and American Literature, but I have also learned how to be a more compassionate friend, a more involved citizen, and a more responsible leader.
I give a lot of credit for my growth to joining The Sandspur as a freshman. I had always noticed and cared about the things happening around me; joining the paper showed me I had the agency and the power to do something about it.
This year, I want The Sandspur to focus on feature stories, or in simpler terms, people. We have so many wonderful students, professors, staff, and family members who make Rollins meaningful, and we want to hear about them: the summer research you did with a professor, the PR you hit at practice, the philanthropy goal your org just reached.
If something is happening on campus that deserves attention, or there’s a story only you’d think to write, send it our way. You can pitch stories in person at our Article Assignments on Tuesdays at 12:30 in KWR 121 or by emailing us at sandspur@rollins.edu, or submit something you’ve already written through our website.
See you on campus,
Ali Becker
From the Managing Editor
This all feels like a fever dream. Or maybe it is, because who even knows how much sleep I should be catching up on. I showed up to Article Assignment my second day ever as a freshman just wanting to write about history and somehow got thrown into the world of political think-pieces and argued about the state of education and questioned the state of the American Dream, all within that first year.
Today I’ve basically moved into the Student Media Lab; I’m still writing about history, though now I have to study a dead language for what I want to do (shoutout Greek 101!), and I’ll never say no to a good think-piece, but now, somehow, I’m in charge. Freshman year me wanted to stay a writer, because if I could spend my time enveloped in research, that would be the dream day. So, suddenly scheduling meetings with faculty members who wouldn’t know me otherwise and being on a first name basis with administration, it feels weird for lack of a better term.
It’s also really, really cool.
I don’t think I would have had any of these opportunities—though I’ll always be researching—if not for The Sandspur. I’m still the same shy, quiet, nerdy kid I was freshman year stepping into my first Article Assignment, but The Sandspur has taken me leagues beyond what I thought my college experience would be.
Sometimes you just have to do the weird and slightly scary things.
See y’all around,
Molly Higgins
Comments are closed.