By Henry Fisher | May 6, 2024
The title is an apt summary of my time at the University at Albany.
Photo Credit: Henry Fisher / The ASP
Get it? It’s a reference to – ah, nevermind.
Whenever I talk to freshmen or high school seniors heading into college, I always tell them to join two clubs: one academic and one social. Something that looks good on a resumé and something that is just good fun.
“Of course you might start off with more,” I’ve said, “but you’ll whittle it down eventually.”
For me, the ASP filled that academic checkbox. As a then-Communication major, I thought that the news clips would be a great thing to have on a personal website or a resumé. What I did not expect was that the ASP would end up fulfilling both of those little boxes, and that I would make friends that I will (hopefully) keep for life.
I joined in September 2021, right after the Albany Student Press had been dug out of its early grave – condemned like so many other pre-COVID organizations on campus. The folks in the previous semesters had seen the paper through some of its darkest times. My freshmen year saw a large recruitment push with Block Party, and suddenly the ASP was filled with writers.
On Sept. 20, 2021, I wrote my first (pretty bad) article, “Curious About Construction on Campus?” The stuff of nightmares, but it saw the beginning of my three-year long pestering of one Jordan Carleo-Evangelist, the ever-helpful university spokesperson. Hope I was manageable, Jordan, and know that I thought it was funny when you put my article as your twitter background.
A few more articles later and the semester closed. I applied for a copy editor position and was surprised when I got it. Thus began my journey to the nitpicky editor I am today. Yes, punctuation goes in the quotation marks. If you want it outside, I’ll be forced to hand you over to the British.
Copy editing I found one of the great joys of being a part of the ASP editorial staff: watching writers grow. When I eventually became the section editor for news, it was an amazing feeling struggling to suggest improvements after working with a writer for the entire semester. It made me think back to my own writing, noting how much I had improved since starting with the ASP.
As news editor, my roommate, Mick, and I would make one of my favorite columns for the Albany Student Press: Albany Student Satire. Yes, we know what the acronym stands for. It added a nice bit of levity to the year, and I’m happy to see new writers take a crack at it.
I also helped establish a precedent for this incarnation of the ASP that countless future news editors will thank me for – weekly Student Association features. Lots of fun, right Shawn? Mattie?
In all seriousness, consistent coverage of the Student Association started to repair an estranged relationship with SA. Previously, the ASP would really only swoop in when SA screwed up or when there was a big controversy. By attending weekly meetings, we could provide a more accurate depiction of SA and show students what they did (or didn’t) do as elected officials for the student body.
Then came the big moment when Danielle, Sumaiya, and Teresa took me to a booth by Jamal’s Chicken and asked if I wanted to be the next ASP editor-in-chief. In taking the position, I was the first in at least two years to have held it for an entire academic year.
As editor-in-chief, I continued the work I started as news editor, keeping track of writers and their contributions. This would eventually evolve as we rewrote our constitution, with these lists becoming the precedent for the separation between Junior Members and Staff Members. I also started my EIC Report, a little graphic to show weekly analytics and to highlight an “EIC Top Pick” for the week.
327 articles, hundreds of emails, and dozens of class visits later, I get to say my goodbyes.
I will miss those always-productive Thursday office hours. I will miss meeting new writers and watching them grow. I will miss visiting classes and asking them to “raise their hands if they’ve heard of the ASP.” I know that once they’ve passed, I’ll miss the quiet early morning hours, the click of the keys and wheezing of the computer – all the company I’d have until dawn broke again.
A few quick thanks before I go. Thank you to my previous EIC buddies, Danielle Modica and Sumaiya Nasir. Danielle, I hope the news rants were not too much and I too hope that one day we can get lunch without talking about the Student Association. Thank you to the many section editors I have worked with: Christian Hince, Mattie Fitzpatrick, Kathryn Taleporos, Shawn Ness, and Vince Gasparini. You all have been my counsel, my friends, and the best the ASP had to offer. You are the heart of this paper, the fire that will keep it going for another 100 years.
Now, I get to do as the ASP has done for 108 years – pass it off to the next generation. Good luck to the ASP and its new EIC. As an old wise woman said before me, “Long live student publications, long live the Albany Student Press.”
Keep dreaming, folks. See you in the next one.