By Ava Green, Features Editor
My very first semester at Canisius was a lot of trial and error to say the least. Leaving home to go to school across the state was much more trying than I ever imagined. I was lost, hopeless and looking for a new sense of home. It wasn’t until I wrote my first article for The Griffin that I had finally realized what I came here to do. I promise, I have not been held hostage by our staff and told to write a glowing review of our school’s paper — or else. I am simply a real student who really loves The Griffin.
I was always an English class lover and a pretty avid writer of letters, reviews, birthday cards or any excuse to scribble down my long-winded thoughts and ideas. However, I never believed any type of real career or academic prowess could come of this love for writing that I had. So there I was, Ava Green, marketing major. It wasn’t really my thing and I knew it right away, but choosing a new field of study is hard. It's already challenging enough to hone in on one topic and dedicate four years to it, but to stop my first path prematurely and knowingly set my new one behind by a semester for something that might still not be the right choice was gut wrenching. But, it was a risk I was willing to take.
When I went to my career mentor, we talked about my academic strengths and weaknesses and where I see myself in the future. It was mostly me talking about how much I hate math. Afterwards, she and I wound up on journalism and she suggested that with my English grades and love for writing that I should write for The Griffin. I wrote my first article about fall and winter fashion trends; right after it was published, I was hooked. I wrote a Features piece almost every single week for the rest of the academic year.
The fast pace of storyboarding, writing, editing and publishing all in the same week intimidated me (and still kind of does), but seeing my own work in a public, physical form every week is a feeling that is so wholly gratifying. Every Friday you get to wake up and see people pick up their copies and flip through this media that you helped put together, just hoping that they stop on your page and love what you wrote. It’s a thrill and a joy and something that I am so lucky to get to be a part of.
I am not trying to convince you all to be a part of the staff, contribute an article or two or even keep reading our paper — please do, though. All I ask is that as you embark on this new year, take a chance on yourself. College, especially your first year, passes you by too quickly to not at least try new things. This is not to say that the inclusion of clubs and organizations in your life will be a cure-all. What I mean is that so much love and satisfaction comes from being social and productive with a group of people that share a common interest. Whether or not The Griffin is your calling, getting involved even in the most general sense is a vital part of the college experience, and no matter how many times I was told this, I didn’t believe it until I just did it.
Even now, as I write about myself from less than a year ago, it feels like an entire lifetime has gone by since these events occurred and since I was this scared, lost person. My education and overall personal wellbeing has been on the up and up since I became a part of the staff of the very newspaper you are now reading. I am not sure of where I would be without the success I have found in writing and all that this experience has taught me. I choose, however, to not focus on what may have been and just be glad that I am right here and right now: Ava Green. Journalism major, multimedia director and Features editor of The Griffin.