Every year The Suffolk Journal prints one out-of-semester edition just for the incoming freshmen and transfer student class to pick up during orientation. It can be a trying edition to put out with our staff scattered between summer getaways, their hometowns and internships within the city but it’s always been one of our most important issues.
For all of you reading this, you are experiencing your first taste of what Suffolk University has to offer you and what the Journal is all about. As you’ve likely noticed, our school has no isolated campus or state-of-the-art hockey rink like some of your friends from back in high school might be moving on to – and that’s not a bad thing. Suffolk is located in the heart of one of the east coast’s most important cities and shows you how to grow into an adult. The school doesn’t have guaranteed housing for all of your four years, so you learn the tough skill of apartment hunting. The school’s location also gives you an almost limitless number of amazing places to throw your resume into intern at. Even on just a mere social level, you can see any of Boston’s major sports teams during the year, go see your favorite artist or comedian all during the school year.
When thinking back to when I was at orientation, I remember the words of one orientation leader during an assembly in the C. Walsh Theatre. The OL said “Suffolk is what you make of it,” and I think that’s the best way to sum up the university. The biggest piece of advice I could give would be to get involved as much as possible. We don’t have quads or frat houses or giant football stadiums here, but we have clubs for anything you could possibly be interested in. If you don’t see a club for the thing you’re most passionate about, create the club and make it happen! And hey, if you’re athletically gifted, then you can try out for one of the sports teams.
I think I can speak for much, if not all of our staff when I say that getting involved with the Journal is one of the best things I ever did at Suffolk. I knew from the first media blitz I wanted to be involved so I could become a better journalist but along the way I realized there’s much more to our weekly paper. We’re more than a staff honestly. We’re more like a family that just happens to put out a paper every week and we’re always looking for more members.
This staff editorial is not meant to be a written cheerleading for Suffolk, that’s not what the Journal has ever been about. At the same time though, all members of our staff go to this school and are proud to say so. You’re now a student plopped into the middle of Collegetown, USA and you should take advantage of every opportunity. Hey, you’re reading one of those opportunities right now!
-Alex Hall, Editor-in-Chief
