End-of-Year Column: Time on editorial board was more than a job

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Created on Wednesday, 02 May 2012 20:47

A year ago, when I started this job, nothing mattered to me more than work.

I thought I'd measure the success of this year in accomplishments. It wouldn't be successful, in my mind, unless we won a Pacemaker, or broke a huge story, or radically changed students' perceptions of The Appalachian.

We worked hard this year, and we did some amazing things. I am incredibly proud of our diverse coverage, our improved processes and everything we searched out, reported and refined.

But when I look back on this year, I won't remember newsprint. I'll remember people.

I'll remember delirious library nights, fall break bonding, and GChats. I'll remember long talks and stupid inside jokes and family dinners around the conference table. I'll remember saying things out loud that I never thought I'd admit to anyone, even to myself.

I'll remember exactly how scary it was when I started to love people more than my job.

The thing is, work is easy. It's constant, it's always there to disappear into and it gives back exactly what you put in.

Friendship, by contrast, is messy. You hurt the people you love and sometimes they hurt you. Caring about someone - anyone - is always a risk.

A year ago, that didn't seem worth it to me. Risking my heart on anyone was too scary, so I made work my entire life.

That's no longer true. I will always be a workaholic, but my life is filled with so much more now.

I don't think anyone will be surprised that I managed to sneak a Harry Potter reference into this column - but I can't help it. I keep thinking of a snippet of footage I watched just after the last movie was released - Daniel Radcliffe addressing the cast and crew as the series wrapped filming.

"I just want to say I loved this place," Radcliffe said. "This has been my life, and so it's going to be very, very odd, I think, for all of us. Because I don't know what my day-to-day life consists of without you, all of you. And it's been wonderful and I just want to say I loved every minute, and thank you all very, very much."

This year has not been perfect. Sometimes it feels like I haven't gotten a full night's sleep since last March.

But this year will always have a place in my heart, because of the people I spent it with.

Because it was wonderful. I loved every second.

Thank you all very, very much.

Frick, a senior public relations major from Columbia, S.C., is the Associate Editor for Editorial Content.