By Najib Aminy, Executive Editor 2010-2011
I’m not one for saying goodbyes; especially when faced with the reality that my involvement with The Press is coming to an end. I’m still puzzled. How do you say goodbye to a paper that has served you well, taught you so much and provided solace for four years?
You can’t.
Everything I’ve learned and experienced within the walls of Suite 060 of the Stony Brook Student Union has become a part of who I am today, for better and for worse.
For four years I’ve had the extreme pleasure of working with and getting to know some of the brightest, most humorous and most genuine people that I have ever encountered in my 21 years of life. These same people were what made my time at The Press memorable, and in the past year alone, possible.
During the beginning of the fall semester, The Press had undergone an identity crisis, which had been developing since the previous year. Was The Press going to continue to be the outlandish paper to grace Stony Brook’s campus with its rich satire and sharp and witty commentary?
Or would The Press revert back to its origin and highlight the work of investigatory and feature style writing for the purposes of informing the campus, promoting progress and inciting debate?
I can only hope that it has been clear that we’ve at least attempted to be the latter, a process, which resulted in a departing staff who were reluctant to such change. These were difficult but very necessary times, even if it risked being impeached.
Since then, The Press has managed to be at the forefront of campus coverage, such as the closure of Stony Brook Southampton, consistently provides rich narratives on the lives and stories of faculties and students and still preserving the ever-so-important attitude of challenging authority.
The pinnacle of our year probably came when we hosted Dr. Daniel Ellsberg of the Pentagon Papers to talk on campus at a time when freedom of the press and government transparency was put into question.
Where The Press has come and how it got there is something I will forever cherish, but nowhere near the endless hours, late nights and early mornings I got to spend with the best staff any Editor could ask for and the best friends any person could ever dream of.
I’m comforted by the fact that the future of paper couldn’t be in better hands, but I am now at a crossroads—that sudden transition into the “real world.” Looking back at it all, I’m extremely happy that it happened, but saddened that it is all coming to an end.
Until next time, I guess this is goodbye, but not forever.
