Good Morning: To the staff, faculty and students … farewell
Every year, graduating staff members write a farewell column, an obituary of sorts for the college experience. As such, this will be the last column I will write as a student for this newspaper.
The Pulliam School of Journalism has taught me that the best journalists keep out of their stories, and I find no excuse to deviate from that principle. In accordance, I wish to make this column about you.
To the staff: I put you first because you deserve to be. Whether landscaping Dame Mall, coordinating campus events, filing paperwork or swiping cards at Sodexo, you are the reason Franklin College can do what it does year after year, class after class. You make a school a community.
You are so efficient at your jobs that some students hardly notice your existence. It’s unfortunate for them, because you are some of the kindest souls I have ever met. Franklin College teaches service, but you embody it everyday.
To the faculty: They say students learn more outside than inside the college classroom and I agree. You have taught me more informally – talking in your offices, sharing meals and exchanging e-mails – than you ever did in front of a chalkboard. That is the beauty of Franklin College; you are not just our professors, you are our friends.
A student can achieve a certain level following a syllabus and reading a textbook, but it’s when he or she climbs the classroom barrier and connects with an instructor on a personal level that truly wonderful things occur. It’s this personal touch that defines Franklin, and the key, I believe, to achieving excellence.
To the students: we don’t pay each other tuition, but we are just as big a part of the college experience as anyone with a salaried job. This is the case at any college, but it is magnified on our humble campus because of our small numbers. A single idea, one thought from one student, can influence the lives of everyone else here.
It’s an empowering idea, the thought that anyone can have an impact on our school and make a change. It’s also humbling, as we must take responsibility for each of our actions. We will all leave some mark on this school. Let’s make it a positive one, inspiring future classes to do the same. Franklin College has taught us how to be leaders. Let’s show them all what we can do.
To The Franklin: Finally, thank you to the previous and current staff of this newspaper who allowed me to fill their pages with ink week after week.
