“It’s too soon, too soon to say goodbye.”
A reflection from our graduating Editors in Chief
As our final days at Malvern wind down, wisdom has descended upon us.
No, not really, we still realize that whatever we say in this column isn’t going to inspire any of you to change or take advantage of some opportunity. What we do know, however, is that we had a blast here at Malvern. It is a really special place where boys become men and friends become brothers.
We know we sound really sappy, but we don’t care, because it’s the truth.
One of the places where we had some of our best times was here at the BFC. We spent countless hours together as a team, from the 7:30 donut-bribed meetings to the late night editing on Google Drive on the eve that the paper would be sent to press. Through writing and trying to get others to care about writing, we have a lot of memories. We formed a strong bond trying to do this together and can honestly say some of our best friends are our fellow editors.
This year we challenged ourselves more than we ever had in years past. We just began to delve deeper into the major decisions of the school, and we worked to not only report the news, but gauge the opinion of our fellow friars, something we hope next year’s team will continue and improve. Thanks to a summer training session with Natalie DiBlasio, a USA Today reporter, the senior editors learned not only how to report, but how much of an impact words on paper can have. A major mistake on a printed student publication can not only destroy the reputation of the paper, but also has the possibility to ripple down and affect the school community as a whole.
That’s when we realized this publication means much more than we ever could have imagined.
This paper never belonged to just the two of us, but to all of the seniors who worked so hard to give the paper the recognition it has today. Thanks to managing editor Dan McGlinn, section editors Anthony Abron, Brendan Hallinan, Mike Higgins, Matt Magargee, the support of Ms. Plows, Mr. Kindon, and all the underclassmen, we tried to help the paper flourish as a team.
We’re not going to sit here and beg you to try to write next year under the leadership of the new EICs, Jack Marchesani and Matt Lanetti (but if you’re interested, do it!). What we are trying to say is our Malvern experience was impacted greatly by our involvement in the paper. Go find something that you can make your own and you’ll never regret it. The great Jimmy V once said, “If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day. That’s a heck of a day.” If you do this at Malvern, you’ll have a heck of a four years. Your days at Malvern are numbered, so find the team, club, or activity that will make you laugh, think, and maybe even cry.
We laughed while having fun with the stories and joking around during early morning meetings. We truly thought when we conducted important interviews and probed into touchy subjects that concerned the school community. And yes, we cried, whether it was due to an inbox full of story reminder emails leading to a late night of editing, or when the last sprinkled donut would be taken before you got one.
The time in the newspaper office is much more than a simple activity and title on a college application is worth, yet in the end it truly wasn’t about that. Our time at the BFC was something the two of us wouldn’t trade for anything, for it led to a bond that will last a lifetime.
