Throughout my time at Jackson State, I was not as involved on campus. I needed to make a change, not only for myself but for my career.
I decided after an emotional and unfulfilling sophomore year that I would make the necessary change to my reality.
Junior year came around and I joined a couple of organizations in my first semester. They weren’t geared towards my major, but I was fine with that because I needed to make that change.
As the end of the semester crept up, I prepared my mind for the summer, but before the semester ended, I received a message in my Sports Culture class GroupMe that was inquiring about more writers for the student newspaper.
I couldn’t let this opportunity go to waste, so I quickly replied, showing my interest in the newspaper. The winter break came, and I was constantly thinking about being a part of the newspaper and how I could incorporate what I had learned so far into the newspaper.
The first meeting came and I was welcomed with open arms. I can admit I may have came in little too strong but at that first meeting, I was able to open up.
The Blue & White Flash has been my home for three years and I can wholeheartedly say that these years I have evolved as a journalist and as a leader.
During these three years, I have met so many wonderful and interesting personalities that made my time with The Flash worthwhile.
One thing that I will miss about being with the Flash is the Monday meetings, especially if we had good stories to cover. The meetings were where everyone was able to open up and give their opinions which I love.
I think that the meetings were able to show me what passion looks like. There were people who would come through and talk about a topic, and you can hear how passionate they were about that topic.
For example, when a photographer would take photos for an event, I would look in the email, and the quality of the photos was amazing.
Another example is when we get extremely political writers who just speak to the soul in their writing. Reading their writing shows me the type of people that we have on this college campus.
While being on The Flash, I have been able to make memories that I will never forget.
One memory that will forever stick with me is when the newspaper was physical (whew what a time), and we were going on the plaza to distribute them.
The number of people I got to connect with on the plaza that day was amazing. The fun that I had doing that was amazing.
I was able to see the consensus on our paper. People didn’t pick it up, but when we went around and distributed it to their faces, we were able to bring a human element to the distribution process.
Even getting to chill with editors during that time was cool because we weren’t in a setting where we needed to get business done.
Now that my time is over with The Flash, I would like to thank a couple of people.
I would like to thank Cameron Adams for sending that text in the Sports Culture GroupMe because without that I would not be have been on The Flash staff, nor would I have made the strides I have made within the field of journalism.
I would also like to thank Ms. Tatum. Thank you for putting up with my antics and my unfiltered rants about whatever topic was the conversation. I really appreciate you for seeing my potential during these years.
To all the editors who are coming back next semester. GO CRAZY! This organization has an immense amount of potential to become an even greater voice for the students of Jackson State University.
Signing out,
Matthew Adams aka Pause.
