Hello… goodbye
Sofia Hashi | Fulcrum Staff
I remember the first time I walked through the doors at 631 King Edward Ave. It was a sunny Thursday afternoon and I had arrived for the weekly volunteer meeting. The lone, odd-shaped, and falling apart building was less than appealing. But the lesson “Don’t judge a book by its cover” was never more true.
Walking up those stairs for the first time, I was beyond nervous. Questions raced through my head. I remember distinctly wondering whether I’d actually like the Fulcrum, as opposed to all those other school groups I had joined in my first and second year but eventually ditched. It’s safe to say three years later that I more than just liked the Fulcrum; I loved it.
At the Fulcrum I found like-minded people. Here were people who still read newspapers, picked up copies of the Globe and Mail, and adored publications like Glamour. They appreciated the power of the written word and shuddered at the omittance of the Oxford comma. They breathed journalism.
The Fulcrum has allowed me to answer the one question I hate more than “What are you studying?” Whenever anyone asks, “What are you going to do after school?” I can now bravely tell them I’m going to be a journalist. (If I’m being 100 per cent honest, though, , I want to be Oprah. Seriously, I’m not joking.)
I’ve learned so much more at this student publication than I ever did sitting in a classroom. I’ve learned how to juggle three jobs, school, and a social life, and that’s no easy feat. I’m a better writer than I was the first time I stepped through these doors. I know what it means to write for various sections of the paper and how the writing style differs from news as opposed to arts and culture. The Canadian Press StyleBook and Canadian Press Caps and Spelling are so much more to me than just random titles found in the reference section of Chapters.
What I’m trying to say is that these past three years at the Fulcrum have been wonderful and humbling. If I had walked away from those steps that fateful Thursday, who knows what would’ve happened. Maybe my dream to become Oprah would still be just a dream, instead of me being one step closer to achieving my impending Oprah status.
Without sounding too cheesy, I’d like to say thank you. Thank you to everyone who has ever contributed to the Fulcrum. Thanks to anyone who’s ever helped on my journey to drop the student from “student journalist.” Who knows where my next three years will take me. It’s ironic, but walking out the door of the Fulcrum will be just as nerve-wracking as walking inside. So, cheers to the next three years of my and your lives. If all goes well, I’ll be Oprah by then.
