What was the process like to become Editor-in-Chief?
It’s an elected position for AUSA. For my year, it was a “yes or no?” poll, as I was the only one running for the position. The rest, you could say, is history.
As Editor-in-Chief, what do your duties entail?
After the election, you organize a team of section editors, who in-turn organize a team of writers to cover the section. I’ve been lucky enough to have a really strong team to work alongside this year, especially during the transition both online for COVID as well as our entire newspaper platform being moved online. I host two weekly meetings, our “editors meeting” and our “ideas meeting.” The editors meeting entails just that, our section editors coming together and editing the articles for an upcoming issue. Similarly, the ideas meeting is where we brainstorm what topics articles we should cover in the coming weeks. Finally, I have regular AUSA duties, which include meetings, hosting events, and taking part in dialogue with students or administrators on how we can best manage a particular issue or event.
What have been your favorite parts about being Editor-in-Chief? What has been your favorite piece to write and why?
After this years’ Superbowl, I wrote a Last Word on The Weeknd, a Canadian RnB artist who I’d been following closely for nearly a decade. That piece talked at length about the themes of his music and how they contrasted my own lifestyle, and yet, how much I still loved his sound. It’s a duality, I guess, and unequivocally one of the major questions of the 21st century, “can we separate art from artist?” I tend to think “yes,” but it can be hard. In my perspective, much of what can make art so meaningful lies in its ability to relate an essence or feeling with such sublimity that it just resonates with the viewer. When you purposely feel (or create) a disconnect between the art consumed and the artist who created it, it must, on some level, take away from the experience. I still love The Weeknd’s music though, so I guess I’m not immune to this paradox.
What are your other hobbies?
I love to run when the weather is nice like it’s been for the last couple weeks. I also enjoy checking out new restaurants around South Bend & St. Joe. I volunteer at the Berrien County Historical Association, which helps fill extra time that I have occasionally. I enjoy rifting blues on my electric guitar and tossing on my GoPro and launching myself off mounds of dirt at any local motocross track during the summer months.
What are your plans after college?
As of right now, I’m planning on taking time after graduation to work on finalizing my American citizenship––my parents are from the States but they never applied on my behalf for it, so it will take a couple weeks to get sorted when I go home. After that, law school, hopefully somewhere I really like.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.