Clue: Who I kissed that chipped the bottom third of my front tooth off.
Answer: SCOTTY STATUE
Clue: Where we scavenged a luxurious office couch (that we dragged across campus at 2 a.m.).
Answer: DUMPSTER
Clue: Who my dream wedding officiant is.
Answer: NORM THE NAVEL ORANGE
Clue: How many crossword clues I have had the pleasure of writing.
Answer: PROBABLY TWO THOUSAND
I love crosswords. I love doing them and I love writing them (Though, I unfortunately hate editing them). Deciding on the theme, coming up with words and puzzling out hard clues is riveting. Figuring all of the pieces and making them click together perfectly, it’s the highlight of my week. I’m not claiming that all of my crossword puzzles are perfect by any means, but I’ve figured out their proper place in the paper.
Just like the crosswords, the best part of the newspaper for me is piecing everything together. With spreadsheets and timelines and writer’s guides and emails, everything comes together just in time for publication. The paper goes out on Sunday and you can’t stop it, so keeping up the pace is both a marathon and a motivator.
Something that makes The Highlander special is how it provides you with a sense of purpose every single week. So if you’re struggling to find motivation with longer-term goals that seem oh-so far away, like passing a class or graduating college, this is the place to be.
The crosswords weren’t perfect on their first iterations, and neither was I. It also took me a minute to find my place here at the University of California, Riverside (UCR). When Senna asked (forced) me to start writing for the paper sophomore year, I was skeptical. (Side note: On paper, I wouldn’t recommend having your roommate be your boss in three separate positions, but in practice, it worked out absolutely fantastic! Love you, Senna.) Freshman year was a little bit rough with finding my footing and changing majors, so I wasn’t super open to try something that was so out of my comfort zone.
But I’m so glad that I joined this group at HUB 101. When the staff is in the office on Sundays to produce the paper, it looks like a bunch of sleep-deprived 20-year-olds on their laptops. But in our hearts, we belong to UCR’s bustling newsroom and it’s just the place I want to be.
There is no way to be more plugged in to the community than through editing the Features section. Every time I get to write on the pitch list that an event is going on downtown, a new coffee shop is opening or we found another special club to spotlight, I’m filled with pride. I have become so protective of the beauty and excitement that this city and school has to offer. I hope that through this section I’ve shared just a little bit of that to the world.
(P.S. Suck it, AP style. I can finally add Oxford commas, more Oxford commas and even more Oxford commas back into my life.)
