When I arrived at Case Western Reserve University, I had no intention of joining the paper or being involved with college journalism in any capacity. I only ended up on The Observer’s sign-up sheet because my friend was interested, and I thought, sure, I might as well tag along. But she ended up changing her mind, and there I was, alone at the interest meeting. Although I intended to listen politely and then ghost the editors, I actually found myself intrigued by their spiel. I was particularly interested in the Life section—they would pay me to write movie and music reviews? Sign me up.

I spent my first year on The Observer as a staff writer, churning out biweekly articles and largely disconnected from anyone on the staff except for then-Life Editor Shreyas Banerjee. I won’t say I didn’t have fun—I wrote about the 2021 Met Gala, Britney Spears’ “toxic” conservatorship and the time I got norovirus from one of the dining halls (though Bon Appétit claimed otherwise). I can say in retrospect that none of these pieces are exactly “good journalism,” but there’s no denying that they have serious entertainment value. Even now I’m proud to say that you can tell when I’ve had fun writing one of my articles just by reading it. But I knew I wanted to be a lot more involved with The Observer than I was as a writer. So the summer before my second year, I applied to be a copy editor and officially joined the Editorial Board.

I think that second year was my favorite out of all my time spent on The Observer. Not only did I learn more than I ever thought possible about writing mechanics and beat the instinct to type an Oxford comma out of my fingers forever, but I also found my place within an incredible group of people. Shreyas had risen through the ranks to become executive editor, and he and Director of Print Sara Khorshidi brought a lovable chaos to production night that kept it from ever feeling boring. My favorite memories were reading aloud lines from Shreyas’ unhinged pieces—who else remembers exactly where they were when they heard that Dave’s Market on Cedar Hill was closing?—and listening to Sara fight with her successor Elie Aoun about photo captions. (“[A]s he rejoices in the taste of authentic Cleveland-brewed pickles” was a real phrase that we put into print.) Even though my Wednesdays never ended earlier than 10:30 p.m., attendance (almost) never felt like an obligation. The Editorial Board, and particularly the mid-stage crew of copy editors, made the editing process fun, and all I can really remember is how much of the evening we spent laughing together.

For these last two years on The Observer I’ve been the Life editor, and although it has a lesser degree of involvement at production night than copy editing, it’s a role that feels like it was tailor-made for me. I love that I’ve been able to keep writing about the things I’m passionate about, as silly as some of them are. Apart from the people I’ve met on the Editorial Board, I’m probably most grateful to The Observer for giving me a place to express myself and share my opinions—a creative outlet in such a STEM-centered school is nothing to take lightly, and I’m genuinely sad to have to give it up. Even though I’m not trying to be a professional writer or journalist or anything, knowing how to write well and in a style all my own is something I’ll be able to take with me wherever I go. I’ll always be thankful that The Observer helped me find my voice.