I joined Rambler because I wanted to be like Rory Gilmore and write for the school newspaper. The whole idea seemed so exciting to me. Getting to do interviews, late nights up writing, and hopefully investigating some controversial stories. That idea and my obsession with watching the news every night brought me to Rambler. But I had no idea all the things I would learn and certainly didn’t know the force Rambler would become in my life!
The single most important thing I have learned is how to make mistakes. I think that I had more missteps running Rambler than anything else I have ever done, but it was the best thing that could have happened to me. I learned to think on my feet and how to problem solve in a real way. Making mistakes, freaking out, then solving them and moving on taught me the invaluable importance of messing up.
Right along with that, Rambler helped me to be brave. There is no way to always please everyone as a real journalist. That’s not your job! Whether it’s reporting about an event, or a new club, or an opinion, someone will be mad. But if you know that you wrote a good story, were truthful and fair, then that is just part of the job. Rambler helped me break from pleasing people and be a good decision maker and assertive leader. That’s something I will take with me forever.
So that’s how Rambler literally changed my life! It helped me grow in ways I never even thought of. I thought I knew leadership and organization, but it took having a matter of weeks to push out a full paper as a sophomore in June during finals, to understand that I had so very much to learn!
I won’t even mention the fun of running around the school on a Monday afternoon delivering papers, covered in ink. And let’s just say, anyone who’s been in my car knows there are a lot of “for the community Ramblers” in the trunk, so if you want the Rambler archives, come see me. I won’t forget the late nights of scrambling to get a paper ready for print, the articles I read that needed so much “editing” they were hardly readable (my favorite to dissect), and the countless amount of Reminds I have sent out throughout the years (trying not to make them sound like threats). Being a Rambler writer and simultaneously climbing my way up to Editor in Chief has been challenging and so fun, I have loved every moment.
For my sophomore English project about club promotion, I (obviously) did Rambler, and I came up with that slogan that has slowly spread: “It’s not just a club, it’s the school newspaper”. That line came to me because first of all it is thee news publication of OSHS, and is truly an establishment, but also because to me it has been so much more than a club, it’s been one of the most enriching experiences I have ever had. So thank you Rambler, I can’t wait to see the places you will go.
