Two years ago, a naive sophomore who had the silly idea of possibly becoming a journalist, despite barely being able to hold a conversation with a stranger, walked through the doors of the Scribe office. If only I could tell him to turn around and run like hell because he’s got no idea what he’s in for.
He doesn’t know about the nights spent staying in the office either working or doing homework until 10 p.m., forgetting to eat because he’s too indulged in meeting a deadline for an article, covering homicides and student government drama, meeting and losing friends — all while figuring out what he wants to do with his life.
What a chaotic mess of two years — yet I regret none of it. You may think I’m crazy, but that’s because you’ve never worked at a college paper before. You don’t know the joy of writing about this campus until you do it.
To formally introduce myself to our readers: Hi, I’m Nick. I am, or was, the managing editor for The Scribe. Most of you probably don’t know me because my voice has never been at the forefront of any article. But I hope you know some of my work.
As the main writer for breaking news at The Scribe, which I admittedly hogged, I was the one mostly covering the Feb. 16 double homicides, the fatal stabbing of a professor and then the court trials for the suspect involved in the double homicides.
My grandma used to tell me everything in life comes in threes: the good, the bad and the crazy. During that spring semester, I had been working on a three-month-long story about our student government and had finished it halfway through the semester, so I figured I was in the clear for a while. I was wrong.
I remember the week that Sam Knopp and Celie Rain Montgomery were killed and investing all my energy from the moment I woke up to the moment I went to sleep into their stories. I was sick. I was an idiot with no clue on how to cover something like this. I was stressed out constantly because I couldn’t stop thinking about work and the next steps.
But for the first time in my life, as cheesy as it sounds, it felt like I was working toward something meaningful that needed to be talked about.
And I fell in love with journalism. What a weird way to fall in love.
Even thinking back on it now, I don’t know if I should be worried that I’m a psychopath or happy that I was able to find pride and joy in my work.
While depressing and dark, it felt like the one way I could meaningfully contribute to the publication, as I’ve never been much for writing opinions or satire. It’s always been news.
There’s just something about covering people and their stories that keeps me away from everything else, and I didn’t want the victims of these tragedies to be forgotten as time continued. So, I poured my everything into their stories.
It made me realize what I love about journalism: the stories. All of them are important in some way, good and bad.
Going into the fall 2024 semester, it was supposed to be my wind down from the crazy: my classes were easy, and I was graduating. Somehow it was even crazier.
I learned that news never rests after the tragic fatal stabbing of VAPA professor Haleh Abghari happened a couple weeks before the semester started. Then, the semester unfolded with extensive court coverage, election coverage and a 91-page review of UCCS following the homicides.
To top it all off, I went through multiple personal crises through this 9-month-long journey. I remember texting my friend, “I thought it was the ‘the world gives and it takes.’ But where’s the give???”
I didn’t realize the world was giving me so much at the time. I found pride in overcoming what felt like mountains. I met wonderful people who had the patience to listen to me yap about all my woes. And I turned that awkward and shy idiot who walked into The Scribe office all those semesters ago into someone who could throw themselves headfirst into the chaos and come out on the other end with a dumb grin on their face.
That’s what it’s like working at a college paper.
I’d go through the countless nights working in the office to edit, publish or write something, the nervous energy of talking to someone for an interview, the stress-inducing deadlines, the headaches, the frustration and the days where I wouldn’t eat until dinner all over again. It was absolutely worth it.
What a ride it was. I’m gonna go take a nap now.
Nick Smith. Photo courtesy of Nick Smith.