Welcome to UT, friends.

Freshman year is truly a double-edged sword, as it brings both new good things and new not-so-good things — new friends, new anxieties, new interests, new insecurities, new lifestyles and new emotions. For me, freshman year brought involvement in The Daily Beacon, a best friend and some much-needed counseling.

There’s a lot of freedom in starting a new phase of life, and with all transitions, there’s also a good amount of uncertainty.

This is the first of four years of learning who you are. You’ll feel embarrassed at times, but you’re also likely to figure out what you want to do with your life.

I learned that I’m shamefully terrible at using ice trays. If you’ve had the privilege of having an ice machine in your freezer at home your entire life, here’s a tip for when you move into a dorm: Twist the ice tray to get the cubes out. Don’t bang it on the sink. It will break, and you will be left with several pieces that allow you to make one singular ice cube at a time.

I also learned that I’m a huge editing nerd. My time spent in the depths of the AP Stylebook molded my desire to pursue copy editing as a career. Unfortunately, soon after this desire formed in me, I learned that copy editing positions don’t really exist anymore. Those jobs now have different titles and include the responsibilities of managing a publication’s website, social media, content plan and much more. But I’m interested in those things, too, so my pursuit continues.

The best ways for you to overcome those embarrassing moments and find your passion are by getting involved early and staying informed. The Beacon is here to publish content that keeps students — like you — informed about the ins and outs of UT and all things campus-related.

The relationship between a newspaper and its audience is two-sided, though. We hope that you’ll use us as a consistent source of information, but we need your help to find the topics you actually want information about.

We want to find and tell the human-interest stories happening underground on UT’s campus — metaphorically underground, of course. Though, if you get involved in a group that actually meets underground, we’d like to tell that story, too. I like to say that these stories are about “people who do cool stuff,” and I strongly believe anyone can be one of those people.

Maybe you become a participant on “Survivor UTK” and win a cash prize for competing in Survivor-style challenges. Maybe you exchange your plasma for money to buy a costume for a party. Whatever your “cool stuff” is, we want to know about it so we can write about it.

When you step onto campus for the first time as a student, take the initiative to find a niche on campus where you think people are doing “cool stuff” and get involved. I still get anxious introducing myself to new people, but doing so freshman year is the reason I enjoy spending time on campus now. Once you settle in and become comfortable in your new place or club or organization, reach out to the Beacon and tell us what your group is doing. Help us tell the stories you want to read.

Ultimately, we want to give a voice to all members of the UT community. That naturally includes hard news and event coverage, but it also includes harder-to-find features and profiles that require us to listen, observe and then write.

Thanks in advance!

Emma Johnston

Managing Editor