Letter to the Community

The Clock Student Newspaper’s primary goal is to provide the Plymouth State University community with news that is most relevant in a local setting. I would say that in the four years I have been a part of this print, the staff I am surrounded by does their best to do produce news stories that are not only correct, but that everyone can relate to. I hope that the audience of The Clock-old or young-can truly understand that this is a student-based, student-run publication. Something that, at a university that doesn’t have a journalism major (or minor), can be tough to accomplish.

I think that for the time being, it should be noted that there is more work that goes into this student newspaper than what goes into most classwork on a weekly basis. Finding stories, scheduling interviews, lining up photos, writing stories, editing others, and hitting deadlines can be more stressful than taking notes and reading chapter after chapter. As much as it is rewarding, it can be be stressful.

Something that I heard in the last few weeks (from a professor on campus) is that The Clock isn’t good for anything besides cleaning household accidents and pottery clay. My only reaction was to smile. To think that these comments would make me upset, or that I would have a negative reaction was humorous. I’m not the type of person to blow up and write a column degrading someone who has a higher education than myself, and is using that education to teach young adults here, on our very campus.

Instead, I hope that this person thinks about who you were as a 20-something year old college student.

To that person, I hope that you can look in the mirror and find the struggles you faced, and how you were able to overcome them. I hope you never had a teacher or professor call out something you were passionate about in front of your peers, and say it isn’t good for anything. And I hope that if you did, you kept your passion closer to your heart because of it.

I hope that all of you can understand where we’re coming from. We’re nothing but student contributors from all majors trying to make a name for ourselves. We’re students who can’t major in journalism and want to try something new. We’re students who needed a job to help pay our loans. We’re students who want to help our peers by contributing to a positive media influence. We’re students who needed somewhere to fit in.

As you understand what The Clock is about, realize that this is how it’s been since 1952, when the first printed student newspaper at Plymouth State was handed out. We aren’t perfect, just like those before us, and those who will follow our lead. I never want to hear someone tell us that we “try hard,” because everyone that writes for this newspaper is dedicated to putting their best effort into every article they write. But in the end, that’s all we are doing. Many of us are in reporter positions where we learned everything on our own.

Finding stories, conducting interviews, writing pieces, and seeing our names printed in a newspaper give us hope that we can contribute to society in a positive manner. We aren’t perfect, and we never hope to be.