Photo Credit: PB Archives
By Danielle Cruz
Honestly, writing this goodbye was harder than I thought it would be. Pandora’s Box has become such an integral part of my experience here at York and it’s hard to express exactly what it means to me in a way that doesn’t sound too cliche. I’m going to try though.
If you had told freshman year me, or even told me when I first became the Arts and Entertainment Editor, that I would one day not only consider Pandora’s Box a sort of second home but also become the Editor-in-Chief (EIC) for the paper, I probably would have laughed. Even now, I’m still shocked that I was elected into such a position and I am forever grateful to those who put their trust in me and allowed me to go through this experience.
I am not going to lie, this semester was probably the most difficult semester for me. Between juggling my five classes, an internship and my responsibilities as EIC, there were definitely a lot of sleepless nights and self-questioning about whether I had bit off more than I could chew. I cannot count the number of nights where I stayed up past midnight trying to finish the layout so that we would be able to distribute the paper on time.
I also cannot count the amount of times I had to skip a class to make sure that an issue was resolved or make sure that the proper paperwork was in order.
But I made it to the end and that’s what matters the most!
I’m proud to say that this semester, Pandora’s Box delivered on its promise to report on issues that were relevant to the student body here at York. And we published five issues of the paper! In all my four semesters as an editor, we have never been able to do all five issues so I am glad that I was able to experience it once.
It definitely wasn’t easy to report, although when has it ever been? So to all the faculty and administrators that were easily accessible for an interview this semester, thank you for your help! For those who weren’t I can only hope that next semester our staff is able to get in contact with you, so that they can continue to report accurately without having to wait a month to get the information that they need.
Along with running around trying to get quotes from people I also had to deal with the infamous signature issue. This issue led to me and my editorial staff running around to different departments on campus to try and figure out who was signing where on the withdrawal request so that everyone could get paid for the hard work they put into the paper. It was really just an issue of he said she said that could have been settled if everyone involved had sat down and discussed the issue and had seen it in writing rather than through word of mouth. Even now the issue is only half solved and I hope that the following editorial staff doesn’t have to run around as much. Again to those who helped us try and figure this signature issue out thank you and to those who only made the situation more confusing please have all your information straight come next semester.
One highlight of the year was definitely being able to fly down to Texas and attend the South by Southwest Conference and Festival. It was definitely a struggle to get everything ready for the trip but it paid off in the end. I definitely learned a lot about the future of journalism from the various panels we attended and while I didn’t network as much as I would have liked it’s still an experience I’ll never forget. So thank you to everyone who made that possible.
Of course an editor is only as good as their staff, so I just want to say thank you to all the editors and writers who worked tirelessly with me this semester to create five issues that we could be proud of. I especially want to thank my editorial staff who stayed up many nights helping me with layout and also lent a hand when it came to filling out various paperwork. So thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who wrote for and helped out with the paper this semester and I wish you all the best in your future endeavors.
(We definitely need new writers next semester so of you’re interested in writing for Pandora’s Box come stop by room 2C13!)
Come next semester the new editorial staff will be much smaller than the one we had this semester but, I know they will continue to create amazing content for the York community. Angel Adegbesan, the former News Editor, will be taking over as Editor-in-Chief; Dwayne McBean, a former staff reporter, will take over as managing editor; Richard Heaton will stay on as the Arts and Entertainment Editor; Asar John will take up the position of Assistant Arts and Entertainment Editor and Adisa Sobers will stay on as Photo Editor. Congratulations to the new editorial staff, I know you will make the paper even better then it is now and good luck next semester!
I will forever be grateful for all that I have learned during my years at York and as a part of Pandora’s Box and I know that this experience is something that I will take with me as I move on onto the Craig Newmark School of Journalism.
Thank You,
Danielle Cruz
