Emily Fritz | a&e editor

Sometimes, you have to do the brave thing anyway. For me, that meant overcommitting my first week at Duquesne. I was a transfer student, and I felt wildly out of place during freshman orientation.

I wanted to be involved, and I didn’t want to be awkward about it. I walked up to the most familiar group during the activities expo: the school newspaper.

Previously, I had only ever written journalistically for a summer class (which I wasn’t well-equipped for) and one article at my previous school — Spoiler: It was REALLY poorly done.

The first weekend of the fall 2022 semester, I drove myself out to the North Shore to cover a vegan food festival. From then on, I was hooked.

Between Capri Scarcelli hyping me up from week to week and my unshakeable craving for connection, I was determined to claim her editor spot when she left. I sorely underestimated what I was getting myself into.

Over my five-semester tenure as section editor in the arts and entertainment section, I’ve authored 88 stories.

Academically, I should have been able to graduate last semester. I only needed one more class to complete my psychology minor, but the more I simmered on the thought of leaving the newsroom — and perhaps leaving journalism — behind, I decided I wasn’t ready to hang it up.

Instead, I swapped my minor last minute for multiplatform journalism. Who knew that taking on double writing intensive courses two semesters in a row on top of an internship and editorship at The Duke would drive me up a wall?

Many people. But that’s not important.

I didn’t care. I wanted so badly to be here, in a way that I hadn’t during my first two years.

Something had shifted and all of a sudden, journalism was like air, and I felt like I might suffocate without it.

This past year alone, I’ve left the safety of my own section and ventured deeper into column writing for opinions, debuted in the news section and dabbled barely into features.

I wouldn’t have done it without this year’s editorial staff. To be frank, I may not have wanted to. As the only non-journalism major in the newsroom, I looked to my peers constantly.

In the writing world, it becomes so effortless to compare yourself to the people around you. But in our newsroom, it wasn’t meant in a cruel way; we loved and supported and pushed each other to be better every week. I am a better writer because of them.

Spencer Thomas, our editor-in-chief this year, took to the leadership role with a kind and collaborative sense of community. It was exactly what we needed.

Megan Trotter, our news editor, let me try out her section, even though I was convinced I couldn’t handle news writing. More importantly, she gave me tough love when I needed it.

As for our layout editor, Ember Duke, and our features editor, Kaitlyn Hughes, I immediately picked them out as people that I wanted to befriend. They have always been willing to lend me an ear or a set of eyes to review copy, but they’ve also turned into some of my closest companions in the classroom and out.

My experience at Duquesne hasn’t been seamless, and I wouldn’t pretend otherwise. There have been many occasions when I’ve written on a hard deadline in College Hall 113, or missed an assignment for my actual classes. I owe it to Dr. Sarah DeIuliis and many others who’ve recognized the depth of love that I have for this extra curricular and appreciated the struggle of being a young adult in her 20s.

To Naomi Girson and Josh Imhof, thank you for keeping us afloat, and thank you for acting as future stewards for the future of The Duke.

Eliyahu Gasson, I appreciate your ability to pick-up a story of any theme in stride and for allowing me to get my frustrations for politics and pop culture onto the pages of the opinions section. There is no one better to take over next year.

Lastly, but by no means least impactful, to Paula Reed Ward. Your love, kindness and guidance has kept me afloat and given me the tools to continue in this hair-tearing, adrenaline pumping, crazy love of writing.

I am inspired and propelled by each of the people that have upheld our paper this year. I am in awe, and I will continue to be as you each move into the world beyond our little cubicles.

The bittersweetness of saying goodbye and the uncertainty of what we will get ourselves into next keeps me hopeful for how we will continue to shape the world, hopefully together in some capacity.

I would not be who I am without each one of you, and I can only do the brave thing because of you: Say goodbye.

Emily Fritz can be reached at fritze1@duq.edu.