Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Outlook is everything: A welcome back letter from the editor

Author's Note: this appeared in the August 30, 2017 edition of the Globe. 

“We shouldn’t have to chase the ghosts of the future.”
That’s what I told my roommate a few days back with regards to his anxiety over running into someone again with the start of the new school year. The story isn’t relevant, but the advice is.
Let me be probably the 50th person to tell you: Welcome (back) to Point Park University.
By now you’ve probably had most of your classes. If you’re lucky you’ve made some great friends or reconnected with some of your favorite people. That said, a lot of unknowns lie ahead. I can’t tell you if you’ll be cast in a show or how midterms will go or if that cute girl you met in the elevator will agree to go out with you.
Here’s what I can tell you: a lot of that depends on your outlook.
Growing up, I was a really anxious kid when it came to the start of school. Even in my senior year of high school, I was nervous as to how classes would go and if I would successfully do all the quintessential “senior year” things.
What I failed to acknowledge in those moments were the opportunities that lie in a new day. Yes, you have no idea what life is going to throw at you. But the future has not been set yet, and you should use that to your advantage.
I’m still an incredibly nervous person (ask anyone on this staff), but I have learned that the best approach to the unknown is to acknowledge it and react proactively. Plan for the future, but be willing to throw that plan out the window if it doesn’t fall into place.
If you’re holding a copy of the Globe today or reading us online, that means we did something right. We’ve had major issues with the technology that we rely on to lay out the paper. All the writing was done over the summer break by our volunteer writing army. And of course, news broke that changed our coverage plan. With so many moving parts, at one point last week I wasn’t sure we would get the paper out.
Again, I forgot possibility in the mix, and the power of the team we’ve assembled. Over 50 people banded together – designers, writers, photographers, delivery folks and editors – and made this edition not only possible, but a beautiful testament to student-run and student-driven journalism on campus.
From the very first edition of the Globe, we’ve been looking for contributors from all perspectives. As we have since 1967, we relied on volunteers to contribute to us in order to put together this paper each week. If you’ve been waiting for a chance to get involved – consider this your invitation.
On my last first day of high school, Coldplay’s “In My Place” was the song playing on my car radio as I pulled up. The anxiety that had filled me that morning melted into a determination to seize the year that lie ahead.
So take this start (or restart) as an opportunity to find your place and embrace the unknown in all of its uncomfortable, quirky forms.
Thanks for reading,
Alexander Popichak

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